Cold Fusion
by kashmirsocks
Summary: AU. Elsa is a nuclear physicist who may have figured out a solution to the world's growing energy crisis. When Elsa gets abducted, Anna goes on a dangerous search to find out who was behind it and why. What she finds is a world full of lies and deceit, as she desperately tries to figure out who she can actually trust.
1. Nice to Meet You

I shake my leg impatiently as I listen to my professor's monotonous voice. Normally I don't mind when lecture goes over, but today is special- I get to hang out with Elsa. I'm supposed to be in my car right now, driving to pick up a last minute gift for my sister, but this guy thinks that the mitotic spindle is more important. He keeps going on and on about this, but I'm almost positive that no one is listening. Why can't he just look over at the clock?

_I'm going to be late and then Elsa will have a reason to put me out early. _I sigh at the thought as I lean back in my chair. This is taking too long. I knew putting off getting her present was a bad idea. I can't take this anymore, I was trying to be polite, but this guy is crossing the line. I put my notebooks away and zip up my bag before standing from my chair and throwing it over my shoulder. The professor continues droning on as I exit the lecture hall.

When I get into the hallway I start walking as fast as I can without drawing too much attention. If I hurry I can pick up something and get to Elsa's place by 5, as scheduled. I rarely get to hang out with my sister, so I'm pretty excited about this. We used to be really close, but she doesn't talk to me much nowadays. It's been this way since she was eight and I was five.

There was an accident, and afterwards my parents were really careful about letting us be alone together. I can't really remember exactly what happened, but Elsa has always been very smart. She used to figure out how to make these really cool things, or do all of these fun experiments while our parents were sleeping. We probably got into something we weren't supposed to, and I got hurt. After the accident Elsa stayed in her room all day reading books or working on homework. It worked out for her I guess- she's a nuclear physicist now.

I check my watch before I reach for my car door. It's 4:19 so I'll have to hurry. I put the key in the engine and turn on the car. Adele starts blasting through the radio and I almost have a heart attack. _Jesus, Anna… remember to turn down the music before you get out of the car. _I drive out of the parking lot and head towards the grocery store. I don't have enough time to look for a really sentimental gift, so I'll just have to get something practical, like wine.

I pull into a parking spot and search the glove compartment for my fake ID. _It's sad that I have to go through three more years of this. _I sift through all of the papers before finally locating my ID. _Geez, I really need to clean that out. _I open the door as I slip it into my back pocket and head towards the entrance of the store.

When I enter the store I immediately head for the wine section. I read over the bottles wondering which one Elsa would be into. I want her to know that I just want to have fun, so I don't want to seem too pretentious. I reach for a bottle of Lemon Svedka -my favorite drink- and then I leave the aisle. I really like mixed drinks, so I head to the soda aisle and pick up an orange soda. As I turn to leave, a guy bumps into me and makes me drop both of the bottles- thank god I hadn't picked out something in a more fragile casing. I turn around and I see the dreamiest eyes that have ever come across my path.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that." He bends down to pick up the two drinks. "Here you go. I'm Hans by the way."

_Hans. _What a strong name. He has these amazing sideburns. I mean I'm not much for side burns but they sort of work on him. I'm so caught up in the fact that he's talking to me that I hadn't even noticed him holding out his hand. I reach out for it with trembling fingers. "Hi my name is Anna Christensen." _Frick! Why did I say my last name? I'm such a dork._ He laughs shyly and gives me an apologetic smile. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

"Any relation to Elsa Christensen?" My jaw drops. How does he know my sister, or more importantly, how does my sister know this hunk of man candy? He tilts his head to the side. "I was just kidding. She's the only other person I can think of with the last name. I just read one of her papers on- something you probably don't want to hear about."

Oh man, he's cute _and_ smart. This is fantastic. _What do I say to him?_ Wait... he reads my sisters papers. This is perfect for me. "Actually Elsa is my sister." _Great, now he'll only want to talk about her._

His eyes light up and a smile spreads across his face. "No way, you're totally kidding. I don't believe you. She's one of my- I love her work." He is so adorable when he's excited. I want to keep talking to him, but I have to go see Elsa.

"I'm actually about to go visit her. Today is her birthday… the big 21." I hold up the bottles for him to see. _Crap! I probably look like an alcoholic. _

He runs his hands through his hair and then licks his lips. _I really want to kiss those lips._ I slap that thought away just as fast as it popped up. "Wow. What are the odds? I bump into the cutest girl and her sister is my favorite scientist." He lets out a shy smile and scratches the back of his head as he looks at the floor.

"Yeah, the two of us probably won't drink all of- did you just say I was cute?" _He did call me cute, I'm not imagining this._ My heart is beating really fast now.

He runs his hand through his perfect hair again and he- _he blushes. _I feel like I'm going to faint. This is too much. He laughs and starts speaking again. "Yeah. Sorry, I'm not used to talking to cute girls. I have 12 older brothers, so I'm sort of the runt of the family."

If he's the runt of the family, what are his parents doing- breeding Greek Gods? _This should be illegal._ "That's so weird." _Crap, why did I say that?_

"You think I'm weird?"

_Oh no. Don't mess this up Anna._ "No, I'm weird, you're gorgeous." _I should just walk away while I still have some dignity._ "I have to get going... Elsa is expecting me. It was uhm.. Really nice meeting you." I turn to bolt, but I trip over my foot and almost fall face first onto the ground. A strong arms wraps itself around me and prevents my demise.

"Are you okay?" He pulls me up and his body is pressed against my back for a brief moment. My knees stop working, and I almost fall to the floor again, but he steadies me once more. "Okay, Anna… I'm going to move away slowly. I need you to tell me if you can stand on your own." I nod as he moves away and then I turn to face him.

I'm kicking myself mentally as I try to figure out what to say to save face. _Just thank him and get out of here. The farther away from him you get, the better. _"Thanks for catching me… uhm, twice. I bet I look like a big goof." I bite down on my lip as I turn my gaze towards the floor.

"Nonono, it happens." He kicks out his foot and puts his hand behind his head. "Soo, since I saved your life and stuff… maybe you wouldn't mind giving me your phone number?" He raises an eyebrow at me before blushing and quickly looking away.

My throat is dry. This majestic creature wants _my _phone number, after I just made a complete fool of myself. How is this even happening? I don't have much experience with guys, but this was bad, even for me. I reach my hand out towards him. "Sure, I'll just put it in your phone."

His eyes light up as he takes his phone out of his back pocket. "Thanks! Er.. I mean uhm.. cool."

As I quickly put my number in his phone I get a glimpse of the time. _Oh no, it's already 4:55. I really need to get out of here._ I shove the phone back in his direction before carefully turning to leave. "Talk to you later, Hans!" I smile as I leave the aisle and head for the self checkout. _I can't wait to tell Elsa about this._


	2. Drinking with Elsa

I knock on Elsa's door at 5:15 and she slowly opens it. "You're late", she says flatly as she immediately turns, leaving me to shut the door. She walks over to her desk and begins going over papers she'd obviously been reading before I showed up.

I walk over to the kitchen area and set the bottles on the counter. "You probably shouldn't be working on your birthday… and I'm only fifteen minutes late. My uhm, my science lecture went over." I begin to search for some glasses to pour the drinks in.

She lifts her head from the papers and takes off her glasses. "What are you learning about in your class?"

"Uhh Mitosis stuff", I say distractedly. I finally find the cups and I place two on the counter next to the bottles. I then go to the freezer for ice.

Elsa puts her glasses back on and returns looking at her papers. "Oh. I thought maybe you were learning _real_ science."

I start fiddling with my hands as I look over at her. _She can be so intimidating._ "I was going to take the physics science option, but this one fit better with my schedule."

She doesn't look up from her papers as she speaks. "Your schedule should revolve around your science classes, not the other way around." She drops her papers and looks over at the bottles on the counter. "What's that?" She places her glasses on the desk and walks toward the counter.

I begin to pour the drinks into the glasses. "I just thought maybe we could have a couple of drinks and just… catch up a bit. It's been a while since I've been able to sit down and talk to you." I finish pouring the drinks and place the bottle back on the counter.

She tilts her head and gives me a questioning look. "How did you get this, you're only eighteen. You're not supposed to be drinking."

I sigh loudly and roll my eyes. "It's your birthday, can we just enjoy it?" She straightens her head and picks the glass up off the counter. I pick up mine. "Cheers." We both drink and she pulls hers down before giving me a hard stare. "What is it?"

"Nothing, just.. what is this? It's kind of okay." She takes another sip before turning and heading for the couch. I grab the bottle and walk over to sit next to her.

"It's like flavored vodka. It's Swedish I think." She nods as she takes another sip. _Good, she's drinking. Maybe this will loosen her up a bit. _I sit down and place my feet on the table, but she slaps them down. "Soo… what have you been doing at work?"

"I thought you said you wanted to enjoy tonight", she snaps back. She turns to me, glass pressed to her lips, and for a moment her tough exterior falters, and I see something different- something vulnerable.

I clear my throat and take a sip of my drink. "Sorry. I thought that was what you enjoyed."

"Right. Since I'm smart I must only enjoy working. I do fun things too." She reaches for the bottle and pours herself another glass.

I place my glass on the table and turn towards her. "That's not what I was trying to say Elsa. I'm sorry. What do you do for fun?"

She looks at me with hurt in her eyes before turning away and taking another sip of her drink. "I didn't invite you over for you to interrogate me. You said you wanted to talk, so what exactly do you want to talk about?"

I pick up my glass and down the rest of it in one gulp. I then turn to face her again. "I want to talk about our childhood." The sentence comes out as a whisper.

Elsa rolls her eyes at me before finishing off her glass. She reaches for the bottle again and pours herself another drink. "You want to tell me how bad of a sister I was? Go ahead. You think I don't know that already? Honestly Anna, why did you even want to come here?"

I reach for the bottle as I try to hold back my tears. I had been looking forward to this all day, and now I was only managing to make her feel bad about herself. _Nicely done Anna. _I pour myself another glass, then I clear my throat. "No I just… I just wanted to talk about things we did... before the accident. My memory is sort of fuzzy, and I was hoping you could fill in some gaps."

A noise comes from Elsa's desk and she stands and walks over to retrieve a fax that is coming in. She reads the paper before setting her glass down on the desk and walking over to the couch. "You shouldn't be here Anna. I think it would be best if you left."

I sit my cup on the table and stand to face her. "Why can't we just hang out like normal sisters? I didn't come here to make you feel bad. I honestly just want to talk to you. You can even tell me all about singularities or something and I'll listen to every word." My voice starts to crack with the last sentence. It's becoming harder to hold back my tears.

For a moment Elsa looks like she's going to cry but she snaps her eyes shut. When she opens them her stare is as cold as ice and she shakes her head. "No, Anna. I have work in the morning. You need to go."

I grab my keys and head towards the door as a tear falls down my cheek. _Didn't take you long to mess that up._


	3. Lunch Date

Hans is silent on the other end of the phone as I try to explain what happened between Elsa and me. "I went in pretending like we were old friends about to have a fun night. In hindsight, I probably should have approached this differently. She pretended I wasn't even there for so many years, I don't know why I thought she wanted to talk to me." I turn over on my back as I kick my sheets off of my legs.

Hans sighs on the other side of the line. "If it makes you feel any better, older brothers do that too. A couple of mine pretended I didn't even exist for like two years." I close my eyes and take in a deep breath. "I'm sorry Anna. I wish I was there with you."

"I wish you were here too, Hans." _Oh my God, what am I saying. I literally just met this guy today. _I bite down on my lip as I wait for him to respond.

"I can take you out to lunch tomorrow if that makes up for it. I really want to see your beautiful face again." The offer lingers for a moment as I run through my schedule in my mind.

"Okay! I'm free around 1:30, if you are. We can go get sandwiches." _Why do you even speak Anna? You're such a huge dork._

"I love sandwiches! Okay. 1:30 tomorrow. It's a date. Well, I need to get some sleep Anna, so text me where to pick you up tomorrow and we can go get our sandwiches."

I blush as if he's in the room with me before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone. Hans is so great. He knows exactly what to say to make me feel better. _He'd be a great husband._ The thought comes as a surprise, but the scary part about it, is that I don't actually think it's a crazy thought. Hans would be a great husband.

* * *

I stand outside of the arts building searching for a red Camaro. Hans said he'd be here around 1:35. I'm getting a little more nervous with every minute. I see the car turn the corner and my knees go weak. He stops in front of me and hops out of the car to open my door. "My lady", he says as he gestures toward the inside of the car. I laugh and then take a seat on the passenger side. He shuts my door and then runs to the other side to take his place in the driver's seat. He shuts the door, before reaching down and handing me the auxiliary cord. "You control the music." He smiles and then starts the car. _Seriously, I could marry this guy._

I plug in my iPod and I put it on shuffle. She Will Be Loved, by Maroon 5 begins to play in the background. "This is a pretty nice car, Hans. I didn't know you had money." I laugh as I playfully hit his arm.

He keeps his eyes on the road. "I don't have money, my family does. My dad is the founder and CEO of The Southern Isles Energy Corporation."

He doesn't sound too excited about that. _Don't tell me he's a poor rich kid. _I mentally kick myself for that thought. "That's pretty cool." We sit in silence for the rest of the ride as I click through songs. "Here's the place I was telling you about on our right." Hans turns into the parking lot. He gets out of the car and shuts the door pretty hard. He comes to my side and opens the door, but his charm is gone- it almost seems obligatory. I get out of the car. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you. Did I do something wrong?"

He coldly stares at me, before his eyes soften and he holds out a hand in my direction. "No, Anna. You're perfect. Sometimes I just get a little angry thinking about my family. You didn't do anything wrong."

_Good, I don't want to mess up two relationships in two days. _I smile as I take his hand and we walk into the restaurant. "I get that, my family can be pretty bad too." He tightens his grip on my hand as we enter the restaurant.

We get seated at the table and he starts to flip through the menu. The waiter comes and we place our order. He then turns to me and raises a brow. "Has Elsa ever mentioned anything about nuclear fusion to you?"

I laugh and begin to shake my head. _I can't even spell nuclear fusion. _"No, she hasn't. I'm not even sure what that is. Why?"

Hans shakes his head and gives me a very charming smile. "No reason. I was just doing some reading about it, and I heard she made some important discoveries about the topic."

The waiter comes and puts our drinks on the table. I begin to swirl my straw in my lemonade. _Hans is so smart. I bet Elsa would approve of him. _That's it! I bet if I took him to visit Elsa, she would want me to stay. She would be proud of me for picking a boyfriend who was so adept at the sciences. _Boyfriend._ Was Hans my boyfriend?

As if he he read my mind, Hans looks up from his drink and asks, "Anna, would you mind terribly if I called you my girlfriend?"

I blush as I look at my drink. How could he be so perfect, and not already have a girlfriend? More importantly, how could he want to date me? I can't manage to form any sentences so I just nod my head.

He smiles and runs a hand through his luscious hair. "Good." Our sandwiches come and Hans takes a large bite out of one. "Mmm, Anna… these _are _good." He winks in my direction. If I wasn't sitting down I would faint.

I take a bite of my sandwich and watch Hans devour his as I chew. I finish chewing and sip my drink before wiping my face with my napkin. "Hans do you maybe want to meet my sister? I'm sure she'd have more to talk about with you, than she does with me?"

"Are you sure? I don't really want to be intrusive." He takes another bite of his sandwich.

"Yeah. You're not… to be honest, I wouldn't mind if you guys scienced it up for a bit. I'd just enjoy being in the company of both of you." I smile down at my sandwich. _This is such a great idea. _


	4. Elsa is Gone

I sneak away to the restroom to phone Elsa. My fingers shake with excitement as I press the numbers on the screen. The phone rings three times before Elsa picks up. "Hey, Elsa. It's uhm.. it's me again." I pause, waiting for a response.

The other side of the phone is silent before Elsa's voice finally comes through. "What do you want Anna?" She sounds like she's in a hurry to get off the phone.

_She's probably still angry about last night, crap!_ "Uhm sorry about last night. I just wanted to see if we could hang out again. I have this really great boyfriend who is a big fan of your work, so I thought maybe you would want to meet him." My voice is shaky. _Why does she make me so nervous? _I start pacing around the restroom.

There is another long pause before Elsa speaks. "You never told me you had a boyfriend.. How long have you two been together?"

I stop moving. _Whoa, she actually seems interested. _I run my free hand through my hair as I try to hold back a smile. "Actually we just.. we met yesterday when I was buying the drinks to bring to your apartment. We're on our first date right now, and I thought it would be a good idea to introduce him to you. He likes your work."

There is a sigh on the other end. "Anna if you just met him, he's not your boyfriend. You don't know anything about him. I have to go."

Anger starts to rise inside of me. I don't understand why she's being so dismissive. I'm just trying to get closer to her, it's not like I'm doing anything wrong… and if I am I wish she would just tell me what it is. _She's so infuriating. _I let out a breath before speaking. "What would you know about a relationship, Elsa?"

"An-"

"No. Don't interrupt me. The only thing you know how to do is shut people out. Oh… and work. You think your little science is so important. I'm pretty sure you don't actually 'do fun things' like you said last night, because I'm almost certain that you don't have any friends. Why are you doing this to me, I just want to be your sister." I slap the wall with my hand, immediately regretting half of what I just said, but feeling too angry to take any of it back.

I can hear Elsa's breathing on the other end. It sounds like she's crying. "I'm sorry, Anna. I never wanted you to get hurt." Her voice breaks as she sniffs loudly. "I wish we could be close, but that isn't possible right now. I really have to go."

"Elsa please, just talk to me." The line goes dead. I take my phone from my ear and stare at the screen. She can't keep shutting me out like this. I redial her number, but there is no answer. I try two more times before leaving the restroom.

I approach the table and Hans looks up at me. "You doing okay, Anna?"

I start to shake my head as I hold back tears. "I had a fight with Elsa. I need you to take me to her apartment. I want to make sure she's okay. She won't answer her phone. Sorry I'm ruining our first date."

Hans reaches in his pocket and throws a hundred on the table before jumping up and grabbing my hand. "Lets go, your family is more important than anything else." He leads me out of the restaurant and opens the door on my side of the car. This time he gives me a sweet smile, and it makes me feel a little better. He then gets in and we begin the drive to Elsa's apartment. "So what happened?"

I turn to look out the window as I drag a hand through my hair. "She didn't approve of me calling you my boyfriend, so I said some pretty nasty things to her. She didn't deserve that."

Hans nods as he makes a right turn. "I'm sorry if I'm coming between you and Elsa. I never intended for anything like this to happen. I really like you Anna."

I turn towards him and put my hand on his arm. "None of this is your fault. You just met me yesterday and you're already putting up with all of my drama. You've been nothing but great to me. Elsa and I just have a complicated relationship." I turn back towards the window as we pull up to Elsa's apartment.

Hans shuts off the engine and turns to me. "Should I stay in the car?"

I shake my head. "No you should come in. I know if she meets you, she'll understand why I like you so much. I think it would help." I unbuckle my seat belt and climb out of the car, not waiting for Hans to come around this time. We make our way up the stairs of the building and I head towards Elsa's door. When we reach her door it's slightly open and I turn to Hans.

He looks down at me worried as he steps in front of me and pushes the door open farther. "Elsa. Elsa, are you here?" His voice is strong as he begins to walk through the house. Everything is a mess and there are papers lying all over the place. _What happened? I was just here last night. We just talked on the phone._ I walk towards Elsa's bedroom and there are clothes thrown sloppily over the bed. I then turn and head back towards the living area. Hans is dialing a number on his phone holding a piece of paper. He holds it out in my direction as he puts the phone to his ear. "My Dad has a team of private investigators. We'll figure out what's going on."

The world around me starts to spin. _Private investigators? What's happening? Is Elsa okay? _I slowly walk forward and take the piece of paper from Hans. I read the three sentences on the paper before dropping it to the floor.

"Sorry Anna, I had to leave. They are coming for me. I'm not safe here anymore."


	5. Reindeers are Better Than People

**A/N: **If you're following the story, I probably won't continue updating more than once a day. I've just been trying to gauge interest in the story. The reviews have been helpful though, so thanks! The rating is for possible mild language, and violence- mostly just to stay on the safe side. Also, the pacing might slow a bit after this, I know everything is happening pretty fast. I was aiming for matching the pace of the beginning of the movie.

Sorry for this bit of rambling. Anyway, enjoy(:

* * *

Hans and I sit in Elsa's apartment as we wait for the private investigators to show up. There's a distance between us on the couch as we sit in silence. Hans reaches out and puts a hand around my waist as he scoops me in towards him. "Everything is going to be okay, Anna. I promise." I look up into his eyes, thankful that I have him with me during this moment. As he looks down towards me the air between us grows thin. He leans in- and then the phone rings, startling me. _Dumb phone. Why did you have to- _Then it hits me- someone is trying to contact Elsa.

I jump from the couch and grab the phone. A man's voice immediately fills my ear. "Thank God you answered Elsa, I was starting to get worried. You stopped making payments and I checked your account - sorry - but its been cleaned out. Is everything okay?"

I can't seem to find my voice as I listen to the man on the other end. _Who is he?_ Hans looks toward me raising his brow and I shrug. "Uhm.. this isn't Elsa- it's Anna. I'm her sister. May I ask who this is?"

There is a long silence on the other end before he speaks again. "Sorry, I'll just call back later."

"Wait! Please don't go. My sister is missing, and if you can help in any way I would really appreciate it. I'm not sure what's going on." My heart starts racing hoping the man doesn't hang up.

He clears his throat and takes another long pause. "Meet me at the coffee shop on 16th street in fifteen minutes. Come alone. If you're late, I'm gonna leave, and if you're not Anna.."

"I am Anna, and I'll be there." I hang up the phone and turn to Hans. "I need to go." I start heading for the door but Hans stands up and grabs my hand.

"Let me come with you." He looks at me, his eyes pleading.

I shake my head apologetically. "No, I have to do this alone. You stay here and wait for the private investigators. If they find anything, just give me a call. I'm sure with both of us working on this we'll be able to find Elsa."

Hans runs his free hand through his hair before reaching in his back pocket. He pulls out a simple gold bracelet and places it on my wrist. "I got it for you as a gift… for our first date. It didn't really go as planned, but I wanted to give it to you anyway." He pulls me into a firm hug and buries his face in my hair. "Stay safe, Anna."

"I'll try to, Hans."

* * *

I show up at the coffee shop and look around, before it hits me- I don't know who I'm looking for. My heart starts to race again, and I feel like bolting out the door. Suddenly I'm being dragged towards a back table. A large man with scruffy blonde hair, covered by a beanie, is holding my arm.

He picks me up and sits me on a chair, before going to the other side and taking a seat. "Hi, Anna. Sorry about the mystery, I just needed to be sure it was you. I'm Kristoff."

A million things start to run through my mind. _Why would it not be me? What is he afraid of?_ I swallow and take a look around the coffee shop. "What is going on Kristoff? Do you know what happened to my sister?"

He takes off his hat and places it on the table before shaking his head. "Not exactly. There is a lot to explain. I believe your sister is in danger."

My jaw drops. The last thing I want is for Elsa to get hurt. "Tell me what's going on. I need to save my sister."

He flips his hair to the side before looking toward the counter. "You want a coffee?" I shake my head, no. "Okay, down to business then. I'm a computer programmer. I was contacted by your sister, and three other scientists two years ago. They came to me and said they were working on a big project, and they needed me to create an algorithm for computing these values. It was taking too long to do it by hand."

"What kind of values?"

"It was a lot of physics stuff… but that isn't important right now. They were very keen on privacy. They kept saying their work needed to stay hidden, and they wanted to know that if something happened to them, that someone would be around to make their work disappear. I set up a cloud that only I can access for them to back up their data, and I made their work virtually undetectable. They needed this security until everything was completed. In return, they supplied me with a nice amount of cash." He turns toward the counter again. "You sure you don't want any coffee?"

I shake my head. "Kristoff we don't have much time. I need you to tell me all of what you know."

He nods and starts tapping his fingers on the table. "They all paid me separately, but about three weeks ago the payments stopped coming in one by one, and the scientists started turning up dead. Right before they died, their bank accounts were wiped clean. There were four scientists working on the project- Sebastian, Violet, Elsa, and Nicolas. I liked to call it project SVEN. I'm invested in this. SVEN is my baby. I've never been a part of something this magnificent. Elsa is the last one alive. If Elsa is gone, they might be coming for me next."

My breathing increases as I look nervously around the coffee shop. "Who is coming for you?"

He shakes his head before letting out a breath. "I don't know…" He reaches down and pulls a toy reindeer out of his pocket. "The last copy of project SVEN is saved on this flash drive. I don't want to destroy it until I'm positive that Elsa is… well.."

I nod my head, signaling that I understand. I don't want him to say the words. I take a deep breath and I look him in the eyes. "Your flash drive is shaped like a Reindeer."

He tilts his head back and lets out a small chuckle. "Reindeers are better than people, Anna." His smile fades and his eyes harden. "If we're going to find Elsa, we need to start moving. I know where we can begin our search."

I nod vigorously, before jumping out of my chair. "Okay! Where do we begin?"

He stands up and looks toward the counter once more. "I really want a coffee." He turns back towards me. "Elsa had this friend that she told everything. He wasn't on the project but they were always together. She pretty much taught him everything he knows- he's like an extension of her. He has social problems, so she wouldn't drop off the face of the earth without checking to see if he's okay. We need to get to him before they do. His name's Olaf."


	6. The Dam Bursts

I exit the coffee shop with Kristoff and he leads me to the parking lot. We walk up to an orange Jeep and he pauses. "Just got her painted. How do you like it?" _Guys and their cars._

"Looks like a regular old car to me", I say flatly as I begin to walk around to the passenger side. I trace my fingers across the hood.

"Hey, don't put fingerprints on my Jeep! Were you raised in a barn? Have some self control." He grabs my hand off the Jeep and walks to the passenger door and opens it.

I let out a laugh as I climb in. "Chivalrous, I see."

"No, I just don't want you touching my Jeep any more than you have to." He shuts the door and then walks to the other side. He gets in and straps on his seatbelt before petting his pocket. "It's okay SVEN, we're gonna go find Elsa now." He adjusts his mirror before turning to me. "No touching the radio, I don't know if I can trust your music taste yet."

I act offended as we pull out of the parking lot. Kristoff's hair is a mess and he smells kind of funny, but he's actually a little cute. _Yeah, but he's no Hans._ I sigh, already missing him. I'm still surprised that he was actually this interested in me. Kristoff's voice interrupts my thoughts. "I don't wanna invade your personal space or anything - I mean it may not be any of my business- but you and Elsa don't seem that close."

I look down at my hands. "We aren't", I whisper. It comes out softer than I intended it to. "I mean.. we're trying- er, I'm trying." Why am I trying to defend our nonexistent relationship? I have been trying so hard to get close to Elsa, but no matter what, she just keeps shutting me out. "We just had a fight. I had no idea what was going on in her life, and I was just so.. mean to her. What if that's the last-"

"Don't think like that, Anna. We're going to find Elsa." He pauses a moment and slowly drags in a breath. "What did you two fight about?"

I take a deep breath before I begin. "Well I met this really amazing guy in the grocery store yesterday, and then we had lunch, and I asked Elsa if she wanted to meet my new boyfriend-"

"Boyfriend! How is he your boyfriend, you just met him."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah that's what she said as well. But you don't understand, he's the greatest guy I've ever met."

"What's his last name?"

I wrack my brain for an answer to this question. _Hans… Holy crap, what is his last name? _He never told me in the store, and when I called him I had only talked about Elsa. I shrug my shoulders as I turn to look out of the window.

Kristoff laughs. "Yeah. What exactly _do_ you know about him?"

I shake my head in exasperation, before turning to Kristoff. "I don't have to answer your dumb questions. I know what Hans and I have." I cross my arms and look back out the window. _If he's going to be like this the entire ride, I don't think I'm going to make it._

Kristoff nods his head and starts to tap his thumbs on the steering wheel. "Ah, I'm just messing with you Anna. I've heard of love at first sight and all of that jazz. If you think what you have is great, that's all that matters. Who am I to judge?" He turns towards me and gives me an apologetic smile.

I sigh as I smile back at him. "Thanks." I reach out for the radio and turn it to a popular station.

Kristoff laughs and shakes his head. "I guess I'll let you control the radio since I was a bit of a douche just before." His voice trails off and he appears to be deep in thought. "I have to stop somewhere really fast before we find Olaf. Just a heads up, so you don't think I'm kidnapping you or anything."

I nod my head. "Thanks for the heads up- although I'm more worried about being kidnapped now than I was before. Actually, I hadn't even considered it, but now that I think about it, you are a little sketch." After a short silence we both laugh and he playfully pushes me. "So where are we going?"

He grins at me as he turns a corner. "I have this friend Oaken who is a pretty intense hacker. I'm gonna need to use his equipment."

I roll my eyes. _Who actually says hacker? He is such a dork._ "What do you need his equipment for?"

"I ditched my old laptop, just to be safe." He takes a hand off the wheel and fishes around in his pocket. He pulls out a new flash drive. This one isn't shaped like a reindeer. "Kept everything important though." He waves it in the air before slipping it back in his pocket. "I figure no one walked into the bank or cleared those bank accounts out in a legal way, so someone has to be hacking into the system and taking the money. If I can figure out who is doing that, or where the money is going to, we might come a little closer to figuring out who is after us."

I nod my head. "Okay. So do all of you _hackers_ just hang out together?" I try to suppress a smile.

He laughs and keeps his eyes on the road. "I used to do infrastructure security for electrical power systems. I found Oaken because there was a security breach. I thought he was trying to start some kind of information warfare. Turned out he just tried to hack into the system for the hell of it."

"You _used _to do infrastructure security?"

He swallows. "After the blackout a couple of years ago, I was blacklisted by the government."

My eyes widen. "You were blacklisted?"

"Yeah. They blamed it on me." Kristoff grits his teeth and I see his jaw clench.

I swallow hard. "You didn't have anything to do with it, though. Right?"

He stops at a red light then turns to me. "No. I had nothing to do with that... but after I was fired I created a mutating algorithmic security code and- long story short- Oaken talked me out of doing something pretty bad. I wanted to make the government pay, but taking them down meant…" He sighs. "So I made my money doing odd jobs, and when I could, a little math based security. That was until Elsa found me."

I shake my head, overwhelmed by the amount of information. _What am I getting myself into? _"How did Elsa find you?"

Kristoff chuckles as he turns another corner. "Not sure, but I guess she figured if I was good enough to be blacklisted by the government, that I was good enough to work on project SVEN."

I tilt my head in confusion. Something doesn't make sense. The job Elsa had Kristoff doing seems a little below his pay grade. "Why did she need _you_ to back up the files. That seems like something any wannabe computer programmer would know how to do. Why go through the trouble of getting one of the best?" I try to trace my sister's line of thinking before realizing I don't know her well enough to do that.

Kristoff takes in a deep breath. "I guess she just didn't want to take any chances. She wasn't doing any small scale research. What she was doing was going to have a global impact, and there are some people who would have put a stop to her work before she even had a chance to get started."

My body starts to tingle. I want to ask more questions, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for the answers. The entire situation is starting to sink in. _Someone is trying to kill Elsa. _What was she up to? I'm beginning to notice that I don't know anything about my sister. I run my hands through my hair and realize that they're shaking. Elsa is just so smart. She graduated high school at fifteen, and I could barely pass pre-calc. My breathing speeds up and I feel like I'm going to start hyperventilating.

Elsa has this entire life without me. She is doing top secret groundbreaking experiments, and meanwhile I yelled at her because... _You really are a bad sister. _I shake my head at the thought. Normally I would accept that, but Elsa had a part in this too. She chose to shut me out. _Ever since our parents died..._ I shake the thought away before it can finish. I can feel tears swelling up but I try to push them back. _She's all I have left in the world._ A tear falls down my cheek and I angrily wipe it away, ashamed at the emotion pouring out of me. _  
_

Kristoff turns towards me, his face growing concerned. "Are you okay Anna? Did I upset you?"

I sniff as I wipe away the remaining tears from my eyes. "Did you know that I applied to the dumb college that I attend just so I could be close to Elsa?" I look down as I knot my hands together, anger swelling inside of me. I start shaking with frustration and confusion. I have so many emotions bottled up and they're all coming out at once.

"When our parents died… Elsa didn't even go to the funeral. She left me living with our aunt Gerda. I was trapped in that house for three years. College was supposed to be when I could get away. So I decided that- even though I could possibly go anywhere in the world- that I wanted to be close to Elsa." Another tear falls down my cheek but I don't bother wiping it away. "I told her I had a boyfriend, and she totally dismissed it, saying I _don't know anything about him_." I slap my hand against the dashboard in a sudden burst of anger. "Well I know he _cares_ about me, and that's more than I can say about her!"

'Anna, I-"

"I showed up here to be close to her and she just shut me out again. I don't know anyone else here… Now she has this whole life that I didn't know about, and she's missing… and-" My chest starts heaving as I start to sob. "I can't help her. She's gone and I can't help her. I don't even know who she is. I'm not smart enough to figure out any of this. I just want my sister back. She's all I have." I bend over in my seat and place my face in my hands. Embarrassing sounds begin to escape from my throat, but I can't stop it. I can't hold back my feelings any longer.

Kristoff pulls over to the side of the road and unbuckles his seat belt. He grabs me into his arms and holds me tight. "It's okay, Anna. We're going to find her, and you can tell her everything you told me. You can fix things with your sister. You're gonna get that chance. I know it. We'll find her." He's silent for a moment as he gently caresses my back. My sobs and the sound of the cars passing by fill the air. Kristoff begins to speak again, this time his voice is softer. "I also know that Elsa cares a great deal about you... I mean, before I told her she needed to change it, your name was the password to her computer."


	7. Oaken

We sit in silence for a while as we drive to Oaken's house. Even though I just cried my heart out in front of a semi-stranger, oddly enough, I feel a little better. I think I just needed to get that off of my chest. Kristoff was right though, I will fix my relationship with Elsa. We were once so close, that doesn't just go away. Kristoff's voice floats in over my thoughts. "So what are you studying at that _dumb _college of yours?" He has a hint of a smile in his voice.

I clear my throat, before quietly responding, "Uhm I'm not sure yet. I'm still undecided. Maybe art history." Kristoff's eyes light up as he attempts to stifle laughter. His attempts are fruitless because soon he is full out laughing and hitting the side of the steering wheel. I start to feel a smile spreading across my face. His laugh is so contagious. "Stop laughing you goof, I didn't say anything funny."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just.. I don't know. Do you wanna be like Indiana Jones or something?" He begins laughing again and I punch his arm.

"Hey! That's not funny, and I'm pretty sure he was an archeologist. What am I supposed to major in? Physics?" I lift my brow in his direction and he shakes his head.

"Now that would be interesting. The Christensen sisters making history." He turns to me. "Sounds good doesn't it?"

I nod. "Yeah. I'm sure it'd just be Elsa doing great things and me kind of standing around holding her beakers."

"I bet you'd be the best beaker holder ever... But I'm pretty sure that's Chemistry." He winks at me, but before I can respond we turn into a driveway. "We're here. Lets get this party started." He jumps out of the car and runs around to my side. He then opens the door, a huge grin on his face. "This time I'm being chivalrous."

I climb out of the car and walk past him. "Thanks, but I think I can open my own doors."

He laughs and runs a hand through his hair. "Of course you can." We walk to the door and he knocks three times before turning to me. "Let me do the talking when we're inside. Oaken is a nice dude, but he can have a bit of a temper."

The door starts to open and a large man appears in front of us. A very large man. He has to be at least seven feet tall. I didn't know people came that size. He speaks, and his voice isn't what I expected. It's a little high pitched. "Kristoff, what kind of mess have you gotten into this time?"

Kristoff scratches his head and looks down at the ground. "It's nothing really.. I just need a favor, that's all."

"I don't want anything to do with you!" He goes to slam the door but Kristoff places a foot in it.

The door smacks against Kristoff's foot and Oaken grunts in anger. Kristoff immediately snatches his foot back, clutching it in his hands. "Ow! My foot! Please Oaken, just let me in, it's urgent."

Oaken flings the door open and grabs Kristoff by the back of the shirt. He drags him across the front lawn before throwing him by the curb. "Leave, and don't come back. I don't want anything to do with you, or whatever trouble you're in."

Oaken walks past me and I reach out and grab his hand. He turns to me, his eyes still blazing with anger. _You got one shot at this Anna. _I clear my throat and words quickly begin to flow from my mouth. "My sister Elsa is missing, and you could possibly help save her life." I give him the saddest look I can muster up.

Oaken's eyes soften and he nods his head toward the entrance of the house. "Fine."

I start fist pumping in my head. _Holy crap, it worked. _I run to Kristoff and grab his arm as I help him to his feet. "He said we can come in. I told him my sister Elsa was missing, and that he could help. Lets go."

Kristoff rolls his eyes and begins walking toward the house. "Sorry about that. We had a bit of a falling out, but I knew he would come around… and don't ask what happened, I'd rather not say."

I shake my head as a smile spreads across my face. "You're just full of secrets now aren't you?"

We enter the house and everything seems to be made of wood. I feel like I'm walking into some sort of hunting lodge. _This guy is pretty weird._ Kristoff turns to Oaken and tilts his head. "If you wanted to hack into a couple of bank accounts and not have it traced back to you, who would you call?"

Oaken furrows his brow and sits down at the table in the kitchen. He then opens the laptop in front of him and begins typing. "How much?"

"Millions."

Oaken looks up. "That's impossible to do without someone noticing."

Kristoff shakes his head. "Well it happened, so apparently it's not impossible."

Oaken looks back at the laptop. "There are a few people who could hack into a bank out, but to pull off something of that magnitude without getting caught- there's only one group I can think of."

Kristoff nods. "The Carolingians."

I walk forward. "Do you mean like Charlemagne and Charles the Bald?" They both turn towards me. "Sorry.. art history."

Oaken smiles and looks back to his laptop. "Think less of the rulers, and more of the fact that they conquered Europe."

I nod in understanding. "Yeah, but their reign did eventually come to an end."

Oaken looks up from his laptop and smiles at Kristoff. "I like your girlfriend." Kristoff moves to protest, but Oaken continues speaking. "They're good, but I'm better. I'll figure out who they're working for, one way or another."

Kristoff nods his head and closes his eyes. "Thanks for doing this for me Oaken. I owe you one."

"Yeah a big one." Oaken looks up and gives me a warm smile. "I'm gonna do whatever I can to help you find your sister."

Kristoff and Oaken continue talking, but I walk off to another part of the house searching for the bathroom. I finally find it and I shut myself in. I pull out my cell phone and I call Hans. He answers on the first ring. "Anna. Are you okay?" His voice is filled with concern.

I nod as if he's in the room, before realizing that I actually need to speak. "I'm fine Hans. I'm with a friend of Elsa's. We're gonna try to find her."

Hans lets out a breath and his voice is more relaxed when he begins to speak again. "Okay. Do you know where you are? Do you feel safe? I can come to you. The investigators haven't found much here yet."

I look down at the gold bracelet on my arm. Hans cares so much about me. I could feel it in the way he spoke to me. I could feel it in the way he wrapped his arm around me on the couch. Everything inside of me wants to tell him to come, but I need him there. If anything comes up, I need him to be there to tell me about it. "No Hans. You should stay there, just in case they do find something. I'm safe. I'll be okay. We'll be back together soon, and you'll finally get the chance to meet Elsa."

There is a long pause before Hans speaks again. "Anna, this may sound crazy, but I really care about you a lot. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. If you get even the smallest inkling that you're not safe, call me."

I close my eyes and smile to myself. _I'm so lucky to have found a guy like this._ "I will Hans. I promise. I really care about you too." We say goodbye and I hang up the phone. I turn the water on and splash some onto my face, making sure I wash away any dried tears. _You're strong Anna. No more breakdowns. _I then leave the bathroom and return to the kitchen where Kristoff and Oaken appear to be finishing up their conversation.

Kristoff turns and gives me a small smile before turning back to Oaken. "Thanks again for what you're doing. I really do owe you." Oaken nods and Kristoff turns to me. "You ready to hit the road Anna?" I nod. Kristoff picks up a bag and turns to leave. I start to follow him but he stops short. He pulls the flash drive with the 'important' stuff on it out of his pocket and turns back to Oaken. He walks over and sets it on the table. "I really do appreciate you doing this for me. Remember the safeguards I told you I invented?" Oakens eyes widen. "Don't mention it." Kristoff turns and we exit the house.

We walk to the Jeep and we both climb in. I put on my seat belt and begin to fiddle with my bracelet as Kristoff pulls out of the driveway. I clear my throat and turn to Kristoff. "You said you kept everything important on that flash drive. I'm sorry if this is costing you a lot of your hard work. I know you could have just ran or made yourself disappear or something. I really appreciate you helping me."

Kristoff smiles at me and begins shaking his head. "No, Anna. You were great back there." He shifts in his seat. "Oaken is a very selfish dude. He wasn't helping because you said he could save your sister's life- he was helping because you said he could save _Elsa's_ life."

I scrunch my nose in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He doesn't know I worked- work for Elsa. He thinks I was there asking for his help in finding my girlfriend's sister. The moment he plugs that flash drive in and opens a file- if he's connected to a network- it will begin to upload information from his computer to a place where I can access it. It'll allow me access to his every action without him being aware of it. Maybe then we can figure out who hired him, and why they want your sister dead." My jaw drops and my eyes widen more than I've ever felt them manage to. I feel like they're going to fall out of my head. Kristoff smiles at me. "I'm very good at what I do, Anna. We're going to find your sister."

I shake my head. "How? How did you know?"

His face grows serious. "It was just a hunch at first. Other than me, he's the only person I know that's good enough to do this. When you told me he changed his mind at the mention of Elsa's name, I started to consider it a real possibility. That's why I asked him who he'd call to pull off something this great. His willingness to blame this on the Carolingians… he hates the Carolingians. In his words 'they couldn't hack into his Grandma's email if her password was password.', so after that I pretty much knew. He underestimates what I can do. He thinks he's smarter than everyone. That's his downfall."

I take in a breath and nod. _I bet that by the end of this nothing will surprise me. _I reach for the radio as I turn to Kristoff. "Lets go find Olaf."


	8. Know Your Enemy

**A/N: **Sorry it took me a while to post this, I've been extremely busy. If there's something you really like, or something you're confused about- reviews are very helpful. As always, I hope you enjoy(:

Shadow Huntress: Computer Science is the overall theory of computational systems, but it can be broken down into theoretical and practical subfields, such as programming. You can have a degree in CS and be a programmer, as well as a variety of other things. Hope that helps.

* * *

I stare out of my window as I watch the sun begin to set behind the trees. An image from my childhood pops into my mind through a filter of faulty memory. This blurred image of my past brings to mind the aspects of my memory that are distant and imperfect. I wish I could clearly recall the times when Elsa and I were best buddies.

I turn away from the sunset and look over to find Kristoff smiling at me. His smile breaks through my thoughts like a ray of sunshine, instantly warming me. "You know.. you're not so bad to hang around, Anna."

"I'll take that as a compliment", I say with a smile.

There is an awkward moment of silence between us and Kristoff's smile fades. "Do you love Hans?"

The question comes out of nowhere. I'm not sure how to respond. I hadn't really thought about it, but I suppose it could be possible. "Wh- I. Uhm.. What does that have to do with anything?"

He shrugs. "I'm just curious, because objectively speaking, it's probably not that wise to open up your heart to someone that you just met."

I shake my head, dumbfounded. "Maybe I do love Hans. I don't see why that is so upsetting."

"I don't see why you're so trusting." He says it matter-of-factly.

I shrug, unsure of what's happening. "I guess I just like to see the best in people- I like to believe that deep down we're all really caring creatures. It's how I've kept so much hope up for my relationship with my sister... how I know that somewhere inside of her she still loves me."

Kristoff looks to me apologetically. "Sorry. I've just been through a lot. I don't mean to take this out on you." He turns into a parking lot and drives around looking for a place to park. He finally finds one close to the building and he pulls in. He then takes off his seatbelt and turns to me. "Lets go talk to Olaf, and hopefully come a little closer to finding Elsa." A tentative smile spreads across his face.

I smile back at him. "Okay. That sounds good to me."

We get out of the car and head towards the giant industrial looking building made out of white concrete and glass. Once we enter, we're greeted by black marble floors and stainless steel everything. We head towards a security desk and Kristoff greets the man sitting there like he is an old friend. The man lets us past the security checkpoint and we head towards an elevator. Kristoff presses the up button and turns to me. "I really hope he'll be able to help us." The elevator dings and the doors open. Kristoff and I step inside. I don't know what it is about being in an elevator, but for some reason Kristoff and I avoid making eye contact. When the doors finally open I am relieved to be able to step out of the tense space. We get off on the eighth floor and I ask Kristoff if he can point me in the direction of a restroom. I haven't gone since this morning.

I use the restroom and as I wash my hands I see my reflection in the mirror. I run a finger across one of the faded scars on my face, hidden amongst the freckles, constantly reminding me of why Elsa pushed me away. The scars are probably the only thing Elsa sees when she looks at me. _Maybe you should start wearing makeup._ I sigh. I need to do something to mend our relationship. I pull two hair ties out of my pocket and I begin to braid my strawberry-blonde hair into pigtails. As I'm finishing up, my phone rings. I take it out of my pocket and see that it's Hans. _Crap, my phone only has 8% battery left. _I pick up. "Hey Hans. Did you find anything?"

"Yeah." He pauses. "The investigators don't think Elsa wrote the note. They've compared it with some other things that she's written and the handwriting doesn't really match. Are you sure she was at home when you called her?"

I pause, searching my brain for an answer, replaying the conversation in my head. _She never said she was at home._ "No, she never said she was. I just sort of assumed she would be, and when we found the note… I never really questioned the thought."

Hans takes a deep breath. When he begins to speak his voice is low and soft, like he wants me to stay calm. "We think Elsa was abducted. When you were here last night did anything out of the ordinary happen? Anything to indicate that she was in danger? When you called her she might have already been in the hands of her captors."

I think back to last night. It was mostly just me failing to connect with my sister. _I tried to get her to talk about our childhood, then she got that dumb fax. _The fax. "Elsa got a fax last night, and right after that she put me out of the house."

"Okay. Do you know what the fax said?"

"No."

Hans lets out a breath. "Well we'll keep looking into it. We're trying to look for people who would have a reason to want to hurt Elsa."

I bite down on my lip. _How could anyone ever want to hurt Elsa? _"Have you found anyone yet?"

Hans clears his throat. "Uhm.. So far we just have this guy who used to work with Elsa. There was a blackout a few years ago and he was fired, but he filed some complaints saying Elsa was the one to blame. His name is Krist-"

His voice is cutoff by the sound of my phone dying, but I know which name he was about to say. My heart starts to race as I slowly walk backwards. I feel my back press against the cool wall and my legs give away forcing me to slide down it. I look around the restroom trying to see if there is any escape. There isn't. The only way out is through the way I came in. My ears feel like they're on fire. _Just stand up and walk out. Pretend like nothing has changed._ I manage to stand, the strength in my legs slowly fading. _Maybe he won't hurt you. Just play it cool. _I walk towards the door and reach out a shaky hand towards the handle. I rest my hand on the metal, contemplating whether or not I should leave the restroom. After a moment I decide that I have no other choice. I slowly open the door. Kristoff is standing right outside staring at me.

I exit the restroom and the door clicks shut. Kristoff walks forward and looks down at me. I stop breathing. "Why are you so pale? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I stop moving completely. _Maybe if I stand perfectly still he will forget that I'm here. _I swallow and focus my eyes on his chest, rather than meeting his gaze. I'm sweating, but the air around me feels cold. I need to answer his question. I make up an excuse. "I just haven't eaten since lunch time." My voice comes out as a breathy whisper.

He takes a step back and tilts his head. "Well we can go get something to eat. Olaf isn't here."

My breathing starts to increase. I become more aware of my surroundings. _Probably shouldn't try the elevator. Where is the door to the stairs? _I keep my eyes focused on his chest. _Say something. You need to say something. _"Are you going to kill me?" _Crap._

He takes another step back and furrows his brow. "What?"

I try to slow down my breathing. _Just laugh it off Anna. Say it was a joke. _I quickly look up into his eyes before dropping my gaze to the floor. I open my mouth to speak, and I have a sudden burst of confidence. "Why'd you kidnap Elsa?" My confidence flees. _That isn't what you were supposed to say. _

He sticks a hand out in front of him and shakes his head. I finally lift my head enough to look him in the eyes. There is a sincere look of confusion plastered on to his face. "I didn't kidnap Elsa. I'm trying to help you find her."

I draw in a shaky breath. _What are you doing Anna? He says he didn't kidnap Elsa. Don't press the issue. _He looks genuinely shocked. Maybe I should take advantage of this moment of weakness. He didn't expect me to figure it out but I did. _"W_hy didn't you tell me you used to work with Elsa? Why didn't you tell me you blamed her for the blackout?" I try to look as confident as possible.

His stare hardens and he takes a step forward. "Where'd you get that information?"

I swallow hard as I instinctively take a step back. My back is now pressed against the restroom door. I have no where to go. I try to maintain my air of confidence. "That doesn't matter."

He sighs and takes off his beanie before running a hand through his frazzled blond hair. He approaches me cautiously and every muscle in my body tenses up. My legs begin to shake. He stops. "I did work with Elsa and I did blame her." He pauses and takes in a deep breath. My chest begins to rise and fall dramatically as I struggle to control my breathing. "That's why she sought me out. She thought if she found a way to put my name on the project, they'd hire me back. She felt bad. I wanted my job back as well. Why would I mess that up?"

I shake my head as my hand blindly searches the wall behind me, trying to grasp on to something that's not there. "I don't know, but I don't trust you. Why would she feel bad? Are you saying it was actually her fault?" My voice comes out airy as if I just ran a marathon. I need to get my breathing under control.

He closes his eyes for a moment and then reopens them. He looks like he's on the brink of tears. "Not _her _fault necessarily. I just feel like there was maybe a design error, and not a system error." He starts pacing. His sudden movements startle me. It's a good thing I just used the restroom. "The real reason I need to find her is that if she turns up dead I know the blame will be placed on me. All of the murders will be blamed on me. I just need Elsa to be alive. I don't want to go to jail." His voice is rising to a frightening level.

I slowly shake my head. "You don't have to go to jail. You don't have to do this."

He walks toward me, but this time he doesn't stop. My body starts to shake and I snap my eyes shut. Whatever he's going to do to me, I hope he makes it fast. I feel two big hands on my shoulders, gripping them firmly. If he wasn't holding me up I'm pretty sure I would just melt. I feel his face move inches away from mine, his breath on my lips. He stops moving. He doesn't say anything. He just hovers in front of me. I open my eyes to find his, staring at me. Staring _into_ me. I've never seen a greater look of sincerity on anyone's face. "Anna, I'm not going to hurt you. If you don't believe anything else that I say, believe that."

I stare into his eyes and we stay in this position for what seems like forever. Neither one of us looks away. I believe him. I don't want to believe him, but I do. My body starts to relax and I gain a tentative grip on my breathing. "Why didn't you tell me any of this from the beginning?"

"Because I wanted to avoid _this_." He waves a hand to indicate the awkward situation occurring between us. "After I was fired, I filed some complaints saying they should talk to Elsa and look more into what happened. I felt like they just needed someone to blame, and it wasn't going to be their young super genius scientist that they fought so hard to get. I'm not saying it was her fault, but it certainly wasn't mine and I felt like she knew that, but didn't speak up. I felt like they all knew. That's why I wanted to make them pay. I never planned on hurting anyone though." He takes a few steps back and gestures toward the elevator. "You're free to leave if you want to. I just need you to know that I would never hurt Elsa, and I definitely wouldn't hurt _you._" The way his voice gives when he says 'you' shows me how much agony it's causing him, having me standing here thinking that he's going to hurt me.

I sit down on the floor with my back against the restroom door. Kristoff sits down as well. He cares about me. _He cares about me. _I stare at my shoes as I mindlessly start to twist my laces around my finger. After a moment I look up at Kristoff. He is watching me intently. I clear my throat. "I thought you weren't supposed to open your heart up to someone after only knowing them for a day." He looks away but remains silent. "Hans.." At the mention of Hans, Kristoff turns back to me and I can see that it's taking everything inside of him to hold back any emotions. I bite down on my lip and look away from his stare. "Hans said he thinks Elsa was abducted." I look back into his eyes. "If you didn't do it, then who did?"


	9. Taken Away

**A/N: **I have a really really busy week so I may not be posting again until later during the week (possibly not until the weekend :/ ). I have a few essays due and a quiz coming up, so sorry in advance. Hope you enjoy the chapter(:

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Kristoff and I sit on the floor in silence for a while, both of us avoiding eye contact. He pulls the SVEN flash drive out of his pocket and begins toying with it. I finally decide to break the awkward tension between us. "Soo.. reindeers are better than people, huh?"

Kristoff smiles down at the flash drive before looking to me. "I had this stuffed reindeer when I was a kid. I took it everywhere." His smile fades a little. "My parents weren't really around that much, and when they were around it wasn't necessarily the greatest." He clears his throat and shifts his legs into a more comfortable position. "We had this big rock garden out back and I would sometimes pretend the rocks were… I'd just you know… pretend they were my family." He looks down at his hands. "There was this really big mossy one that I liked to call Grand Pabbie.. Anyway when I got older it just turned into a place where I went when I needed to get away, or just think about things." He shrugs. He lifts his head again and our eyes meet.

I give him a reassuring smile. "Well, when Elsa first shut me out I'd sit outside her door and sing songs all day, but after a while that got a little boring… so… I sort of made friends with the paintings we had hanging around the house." Kristoff lets out a chuckle. "Yeah. My favorite one was Joan of Arc. We had some pretty interesting conversations."

Kristoff smiles at me and tilts his head. "Well now I know why you're so brave."

I bite down on my lip and my cheeks feel warm. _Crap, am I blushing? _I look down at my shoes to hide my face. "Yeah, I guess having Joan around wasn't so bad. She was a great role model… and she didn't sneak out of her room and eat all of the junk food in the middle of the night." Kristoff starts laughing and I join in. _His laugh really is contagious. _Soon our laughter fades and the space once again grows silent. "Maybe we should go get some food, and you can check to see what Oaken has been up to."

Kristoff nods and climbs to his feet. He walks over to me and sticks out a hand. I reach up and he takes my hand into his. _His hands are so warm.. and firm. _He pulls me to my feet, but I trip over one of my laces I had been fiddling with and I smack my face into his chest. "Anna!" Kristoff shouts as he wraps an arm around my back, making sure I stay on my feet. His other hand twists itself into my hair. He holds me there pressed against him, and I take in his smell, a smell I've grown used to over the past few hours. It makes me feel safe. I look up and his eyes are searching mine, examining my face. "Are you okay?" He speaks softly. I hold his gaze for a few seconds, or maybe a lifetime, it feels like forever- but soon my eyes drop to his lips. For the first time in forever, for the first time in my entire life really, all I want is to be kissed.

"I'm… I'm fine", I manage to squeak out. He releases his grip on me and takes a step back before kneeling to the floor.

He takes my laces into his hands and looks up to me. "Should probably tie these just to stay on the safe side." He finishes tying my shoe and then gets up and walks over to pick up his beanie. I watch his every move intently. He turns to me, and I realize I'm staring, but I just can't look away. "Uhm… we should probably just go eat." He puts his beanie on his head before shoving his hands in his pockets.

We walk to the elevator and Kristoff presses the button. The doors open immediately. _Guess no one has used the elevator. _We step inside and the doors close. The elevator is pretty spacious, but Kristoff stands really close to me. My heart starts to race and my breathing picks up. I'm suddenly very aware of his arm touching mine. _Why didn't he kiss me?_ I shake the thought from my head. I'm with Hans. I shouldn't have wanted to kiss him anyway. I look up at him and he's staring ahead. He looks really calm. _Maybe he didn't have the same feeling._ I feel selfish. I want him to like me, and I have a boyfriend. I scold myself as the doors open. Kristoff smiles down at me. "After you." We walk towards the exit and I notice the security guard is no longer at his desk. It's dark outside so I can't see much through the glass of the building. It only reflects the inside. _This architecture isn't half bad._

As we step out of the building I hear the simultaneous clicks of what sounds like.. guns. "Get down on the ground!" A voice rings out from the darkness and I realize what I'm staring at. I start to panic. There are cop cars everywhere with policeman posed behind them, holding weapons, all pointed in our direction. I turn to Kristoff and I see that he's looking at them, horrified. _No this isn't happening. _I want to reach out and comfort him but my arms aren't responding.

He raises his hands and places them behind his head. He then drops to his knees and looks up to me. I can see the shock and pain emanating from his eyes, as well as a third feeling that I can't figure out. It looks like.. _regret. _His mouth curls into a slight smile. "I should have just kissed you in the hallway. For some reason I thought I'd get another chance." He then closes his eyes and turns his face toward the ground. _He felt it too. He wanted to kiss me._ I continue looking down at him but I can't manage to form any words. I need to touch him. I need to pull him off the ground and tell him he can have a second chance.

I reach for him but I feel an arm pulling me away. I don't want to leave this spot. I don't want to leave Kristoff here. "It's okay." I hear a voice come from behind me. _It's not okay. _I have to go to Kristoff. The cops are running in, surrounding him, shoving him to the ground and cuffing him. The arm continues to pull me back. "It's okay now, you're safe." The voice comes in again. I whirl around to push him away, but I find Hans looking down at me, pulling me in to him.

I open my mouth to tell Hans that this is a mistake, that Kristoff didn't hurt anyone- but I'm stopped by his mouth. He's kissing me. The kiss is intrusive and unexpected. This isn't what I wanted. _What am I saying?_ This _is_ what I wanted... but not now. _Not from him. _Right now I need to save Kristoff. I push Hans away and he stares at me shocked. I try to apologize with my eyes and his expression changes. He is looking at me like I'm a wounded animal. I can't deal with this right now. I need to save Kristoff.

I turn and see that Kristoff's being pulled away and put into the back of a car. I have to tell the cops. I have to tell them before it's too late. _He's innocent. _I try to run but an arm is holding me back. "He's not going to hurt you. I'm here now. You're safe." _I need to save Kristoff._ The car is pulling away. _He's innocent_. The car is too far away for me to catch. _I need him to save Elsa._ The car pulls out of the parking lot. _I need him. _The sound seems to get sucked out of the world. I know I'm screaming but I can't hear my voice. _What's happening?_ Everything goes black.

The last thing I hear is Hans shouting my name. There is so much despair in his voice. It reminds me of something but I can't put my finger on it. It feels so familiar. I've heard someone scream my name like that before, but it wasn't Hans. It was a girl, a young girl. It was Elsa. I remember the accident.


	10. The Accident

**A/N: **I felt a little bad about leaving the story where I did. Hopefully now you guys and gals can peacefully wait a little longer. Thanks for all the reviews though! Enjoy(:

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A loud noise startles me out of my sleep. I fling my eyes open to see beautiful sparkling lights in the sky outside of my window. I throw my tiny feet over the side of my twin sized bed and begin to wiggle my way down. Eventually I feel the familiar cool of the hardwood floor against the bottom of my feet and I turn around and begin shuffling towards the window. I climb on the seat in front of the window and stare out, waiting for the pretty lights to return. I hear another boom and there they are, filling the night sky with magnificent colors. I stare at the lights until they fade away, and a large grin begins to spread across my face. _Whoa! Gotta get Elsa!_ I run over to Elsa's bed and I climb up and get on top of her, putting all of my weight on her body. "Psst! Elsa. Psst!"

Elsa stirs in the bed before sleepily replying. "What do you want Anna?"

I lean close to her ear as if what I'm about to ask can't be heard by anyone else. "You wanna go out and play?"

Elsa sighs, but her eyes remain shut. "Go to bed Anna", she replies dryly.

I turn on my back in a dramatic gesture and throw an arm across my forehead. "Elsa I just can't! The sky's awake, so I'm awake. So we have to go play!"

Elsa lets out a frustrated moan before turning and knocking me off the bed. "Go play by yourself Anna."

I sit up on the floor and an idea strikes me. I climb back on to the bed and get back on top of Elsa. I lift her eye lid as I speak to her. "Do you wanna shoot the rockets?"

Elsa's eyes spring open and a smile spreads across her face. She lifts her body causing me to fall over onto the bed. I smile up at her as she stares down at me. She then bends over and starts tickling me. "Tickle monster", she growls as I burst into uncontrollable giggling, begging her to stop. After a while she finally lets up and puts a finger to her lips. "Shhh, lets go." We both jump off of the bed and sneak out of our room. Elsa puts a finger to her lips as I giggle excitedly. "Shhh Anna, Mama and Papa can't know about this."

Elsa stops in the kitchen and pushes a chair in front of the counter. She then climbs on top of it and begins rummaging through the upper cabinets. She finally finds what she is looking for- a box of long matches. They're the ones Papa uses when he lights the tiny rockets. I clap my hands because I can't contain my excitement. "Hurry Elsa, hurry!"

Elsa runs back to me and we sneak through the living area, towards the garage door. We then open the door to the garage as quietly as possible. There is stuff everywhere. Elsa puts her hands on her hips. "They have to be in here somewhere. You take the left side, I'll take the right." I run off to begin searching for the tiny rockets and Elsa giggles. "No, Anna. Your other left." I turn and begin running in the opposite direction.

I start searching through the large pile of stuff in front of me. It doesn't take long before I lose my patience and become antsy. "Did you find them Elsa? Did you find them?"

Elsa turns to me and shakes her head. "No but I did find your stuffed snowman that Mama said got lost." She holds him up and starts speaking in a goofy voice. "Hey Anna, wanna play?"

I start giggling as I grab my cheeks with my hands. "I love you snowman!" I run to Elsa and fling my arms around the snowman she's holding up.

Elsa looks past my head and squints her eyes. "There are the fireworks. Anna, they were right in front of you."

"Oopsie!" I smile really big up at Elsa.

She shakes her head with a smile and walks over to the fireworks. She grabs them and we go back into the house and sneak out the back door. The outside air is cool against our skins, unlike the heat we feel during the day. Elsa opens the box with the fireworks inside and takes one out.

She puts it in the ground and tells me to stand back. She then takes out a match and lights the firework before quickly running over to me. The fire goes up the little string and when it reaches the top, the tiny rocket flies off. It makes a little light in the sky and a small popping noise. I start jumping up and down. "Again! Again!" Elsa repeats this four more times before I hear a big boom followed by a large cluster of lights off in the distance. "Whoa Elsa lets make big lights like those!"

Elsa shakes her head. "No Anna, I don't think that's safe."

"Please, Elsa!" I give her the saddest look I can muster up.

Elsa sighs as she runs a hand through her hair. "I don't know how Anna. We only have these small ones."

I run and fling my arms around Elsa. "C'mon Elsa you can do it. You're the smartest person I know. You can figure out something." I smile up at my big sister.

Elsa stares down at the rockets for a moment and then a smile spreads across her face. "I got an idea! Stay here." She runs into the house and after a couple of minutes she returns with duct tape. She begins twisting the strings of a bunch of little rockets together before wrapping the tape around them. She then firmly sticks it in the ground and smiles down at her work. "Stand back Anna." I step away from the fireworks, prepared to see them fly. Elsa lights the combined strings and runs toward me.

The fire goes up the string, but then it just stops. Nothing happens. I can feel the cool earth underneath my bare feet as I excitedly walk toward the bundle of fireworks wedged into the ground. _Why aren't they going off? _I want to see the little rockets fly into the air and make the pretty colors. I can vaguely hear Elsa's voice in the background, but I don't know what she's saying. I pause, listening closely. "Anna! No! Get away from there Anna. Come back over here!" I look down at the fireworks and I see them start to explode. Everything goes black again, but I can still hear Elsa's voice. "Wake up Anna, please. Everything is going to be okay. I'm here."

* * *

I open my eyes and the first thing I see is the blinding white light coming from over my bed. The second thing I see is Elsa standing above me. She's paler than normal and has a swollen lip, but it's definitely Elsa. Suddenly I feel her warmth around me. _She's hugging me. _I can't even remember the last time my sister touched me in a display of affection. _Am I still dreaming?_

I hear her voice again. It's low and soothing. "It's okay Anna. I'm here now." I try to speak but my throat is dry. I can only manage to let out a moan as I desperately try to clear my throat. Elsa gets the hint and she turns to get me a cup of water. I see her wince as she moves, and I know she must be hurt. She places the cup to my lips and gently lifts my head. "Drink, Anna."

I drink the water, and the cool sensation feels like heaven as it covers my dry throat. I smile up at Elsa before attempting to speak again. My voice comes out low and raspy. "What happened? Are you really here?"

Elsa nods her head. "Hans told me you passed out after they rescued you from Kristoff. Your blood sugar levels were really low. The excitement of the situation must have pushed you over the edge." I close my eyes and the image of Kristoff being taken away in the cop car pops back into my mind. I open my eyes and turn to Elsa, trying to tell her that Kristoff is innocent. She puts a hand on my shoulder and silences me. "Shhh, conserve your energy." She stares down at me, her eyes filled with compassion. "Shortly after they arrested Kristoff, they found me in his basement." She swallows and looks as if she's going to cry. "They say he probably killed the others."

I shake my head. "Kristoff wouldn't do that. He told me he didn't hurt them."

Elsa closes her eyes for a moment and then reopens them. "Anna he had us all fooled. I didn't realize it was him until they told me where they found me. I was in my apartment when I was attacked from behind and a bag was thrown over my head. It happened a couple of hours after you left."

I close my eyes. He told me he wouldn't hurt Elsa or me, and I had believed him. _I wanted to kiss him._ How could I be so naive? I open my eyes and Elsa is staring down at me with an apologetic expression on her face. She takes my hand into hers. "I'm sorry for giving you crap about Hans. He actually is a pretty great guy. Without him, neither one of us would be alive."


	11. Elsa Opens Up

**A/N: **This chapter is pretty long, but I can't really split this up anywhere. SO, just a couple of things:

1. The experiment I talk about in the end is an actual experiment (not performed by Elsa, sadly) and if you want to look it up and learn more about it, feel free to. It was performed by Pamela A. Mosier-Boss and colleagues. Also look up her work and stuff- if you want. It's cool. (I felt I needed to cite this. I'm just a fledgling scientist, not yet smart enough to think of something that great, therefore I will not take the credit.)

2. Also, thank you to whoever put this story on the recommended thing. I'd give you a hug if I knew who you were.

Anyway. Sorry for this super long A/N.

TL;DR: Just enjoy(:

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There is a knock at the door and Elsa yells for the person to come in. The door slowly opens and Hans enters. He's carrying a thermal shirt and a pair of hospital pants. "The doc says you're good to go, and you can change into this." He holds up the clothes. "I can drop you both off at Elsa's apartment…" He looks to Elsa.

Elsa draws in a shaky breath, and I begin to speak. "She can stay with me in my dorm tonight. It's probably best if we just distance ourselves from this."

He nods and stares at me without saying anything. He looks sad. Elsa releases my hand. "I'll wait in the hallway, so you two can talk." She gives me a small smile and walks out of the room.

Hans walks to the side of my bed. He tentatively reaches out to touch me before withdrawing his hand. He clears his throat and looks away. "Sorry for uhm.. trying to kiss you back there. I was just so happy you were okay."

I give him a weak smile as I lift my hand towards his. He takes it. "It's fine. That was totally okay. I was just a little overwhelmed, but hopefully we can try that again." _Calm down Anna. _I clear my throat. "I mean like, if you still want to. I understand if-"

Hans leans down and presses his lips to mine. This time I don't pull back. I embrace it. His lips are soft, yet firm. _He smells so nice. _He releases my hand and places his hand on my cheek, the other gently wraps around my waist and pulls me into him. The world around me drifts away as I reach up to run a hand through his perfect hair.

I then hear someone loudly clear their throat. I immediately break the kiss and look to my right. Elsa is standing by the door smiling. _Awkward. _"We should probably get going Anna… and Hans." She looks back and forth between Hans and I before turning to leave the room again.

Hans and I stare at each other for a moment before starting to laugh. "Busted." I bite down on my lip. Hans just continues to stare at me with a glint in his eye. I feel my cheeks growing warmer as I look down.

He puts his arms around me and pulls me into a hug, resting his face in my hair. "I'm glad you're okay, Anna. Uhm.." He pulls away from the hug. "I'll just leave, so you can get changed. Is five minutes enough?"

I nod. "Yeah… and uhm.. thanks for everything."

He smiles and nods before leaving the room.

* * *

Elsa and I arrive at my dorm and I swipe my key card to enter the room. I open the door and see the mess inside. _Crap, I probably should have cleaned this. _I look at Elsa and she tilts her head. "Well, I can tell you're a college student." Elsa smiles as I squint my eyes at her. She then shakes her head and gives my hand a squeeze. "You should have seen my dorm room." She winks before turning to take in all of the pictures on the walls. She points to an Underworld poster. "Didn't know you were into the whole vampire and werewolf scene."

I shake my head. "It's nothing like Twilight if that's what you're getting at… and the Twilight movies weren't that bad- at least not the last three."

A smile spreads across her face as she obviously tries to hold back laughter. "Okay Anna." She walks over to my desk and starts looking through my papers. She picks up my last biology exam. _Frick! I failed that test. _She starts to flip through it. "What were you having trouble with?"

My heart starts to race. I just got my sister back. I don't want anything to come between us. I start twisting my hands together as I try to explain that I'd blown off studying to go to a party, and then paid the price for it. "I uhhh, I just didn't get some of the concepts." _Okay, that's a lie, but she doesn't need to know the truth. "_I am uhh, sort of trying harder now." _Another lie. I left the last lecture before it concluded. _I take in a breath, waiting for her to respond.

She nods. "I can help you, if you want. This stuff can be sort of intimidating at first."

I take a step towards her. "Thought you didn't like biology."

She tilts her head. "That doesn't mean I don't know it."

I close my eyes and nod vigorously. "Right. Right. I forgot you were like a super genius and stuff." I take in a deep breath as I look at the floor.

Elsa points to my bed. "Mind if I-"

I start to nod. "Go ahead. Make yourself at home." She takes off her shoes and climbs into my bed.

She looks over at me for a moment before speaking. "Aren't you going to join me?"

I slowly take off my shoes and I sit on the bed, putting as much distance between us as possible. The last time I tried to get too close to her too fast she pushed me away. I look up at her. "So do you wanna talk about anything?"

The smile leaves her eyes and she looks down at her hands. "I know you want to talk about our childhood. You want to know why I shut you out. You deserve to know, and I guess now would be the time to tell you." I swallow. I wasn't really expecting this. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that, even though it's the question I've had since I was five. Before I can protest she begins speaking.

"After the accident, Papa took me to a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist said the reason I kept acting out was because I wasn't being challenged enough. They thought I lacked any real self control." She looks down. "They wanted me to channel my energy into something else."

I shake my head. "Elsa what happened with the fireworks wasn't your fault."

She looks me in the eyes. "Really? I knew that it was a bad idea. I was- am your older sister. I should have never taken you out there. Part of me knew better, Anna, and I went along with it anyway."

I inch closer to her. "We were only kids. Neither one of us really knew any better. We just wanted to have some fun."

She looks away from me. "Papa started making me read really challenging books and giving me extra homework. When I didn't understand something he'd say I wasn't trying hard enough. He said if I learned to focus my energy into something positive, I wouldn't get the urge to do bad things."

I can feel tears trying to push their way through, but I hold them back. "Elsa I never knew that."

She shakes her head. "He was determined to make sure I didn't turn out a delinquent. He said he wanted to rid me of my destructive urges, by focusing my talents elsewhere."

It becomes harder to hold back my tears, but I need to stay strong for Elsa. "You didn't hurt me on purpose. Shit Elsa, you didn't hurt me at all- it was my fault."

She shakes her head. "That isn't true Anna. You were too young to know any better, but I did. Besides, Papa came out to see me clutching a blood covered little you and there was a mass of taped together firework remains laying next to us. He was just putting two and two together. We shouldn't have been out there."

I open my mouth to speak, but she continues.

"Papa didn't want me to turn out bad. At first I fought against them, his new rules. I wanted to play with you. He told me when I learned to safely play with others, that I could be with you again. I started working harder than I had ever woked before. I wanted to be the perfect little girl."

I can't believe what I'm hearing. This doesn't sound like the Papa I knew. If he had known that it wasn't Elsa's fault, he wouldn't have done this. I just know it.

Elsa pulls her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them. "I eventually started having mood swings or panic attacks when work got too hard. If I couldn't do it, that must have meant I wasn't working hard enough." She says the last sentence more to herself than to me. She stares off into the distance, but she continues speaking. I can tell that she is channeling a very dark place.

"Sometimes I would lash out and rip up work I had been working on for hours. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I was never good enough. I wanted to be with you though, so I tried even harder- completely committing myself to my work. One day... I looked up and realized that it had been years since we had had an actual conversation. I didn't have any friends. I wasn't happy."

I move closer to her. I want to reach out to her, but I'm not sure if she wants me to touch her.

She turns her head back towards me. "When you had your eighth birthday party I noticed a lot of things. You looked happy. You had friends. Papa smiled around you and he didn't scold you. You were the perfect girl. Being near you became a constant reminder of everything I wasn't." She turns her head away from me again.

I don't know what to do or say. I didn't know about any of this. I didn't notice any of this. I want Elsa to know that I think she's perfect, but maybe she doesn't want to hear that from me.

"When I was twelve I started high school and I took the hardest classes. I was set on getting out early. I didn't need Papa to push me to work harder anymore. I pushed myself. I started to shut him out as well. I didn't want anyone around me. I just wanted to shut myself off. I felt like the only thing I was good at was studying and doing work."

I place a hand on her leg and she looks at me. I retract my hand. "Elsa you're good at other things."

She nods. "I know that now. College helped me work through some of my issues. Being on my own was good for me."

I give her a tiny smile.

She looks away from me again. "That's why I never visited. That's why I didn't go to the funeral. I couldn't return there. I've come too far to go back down that road. I wanted more than anything to fix our relationship, but I was hoping that you'd just forget about me."

"Elsa I could never forget about you. You're my big sister."

She doesn't acknowledge what I said. She just keeps speaking. "When you showed up here it made me angry because I didn't know how to talk to you, or how to relate to you. You're my sister and I shut you out for thirteen years." She turns back towards me. "I didn't know how to deal with that. I knew you couldn't remember the accident. I wondered if you could, if you would still want to hang out with me."

"I do remember it Elsa. I still love you. It wasn't your fault." She remains silent. I drink in the image of my sister in front of me. Elsa is normally calm and confident. She's usually poised and elegant. I remember just two nights ago how she had cooly dismissed me taking a biology class. I remember how intimidated I felt by her presence, even when we were talking on the phone. I always felt like when I talked to her that I was begging for acceptance. I wanted to be better at everything, so I could be good enough for her.

Now she's sitting hunched over on my dorm bed, knees pulled to her chest, with her arms wrapped desperately around them. Her hands are twisted together in a tight clasp to keep her knees from escaping. She doesn't look calm or confident. She looks afraid and lost. I can see in her eyes that every inch of her believes that I'm going to run out of the door at any moment. Her gaze is begging me to stay. It's apologizing for everything that's coming out of her mouth. It's asking for forgiveness, begging for acceptance. I know what she needs.

I reach out and untangle her hands, and I watch as they limply fall to her sides. I then crawl over to her and gently slide my arms around her body. A single tear falls from her eye as she stares ahead of her. I pull her into me. Her body is stiff, like she's afraid to move- afraid that she'll scare me away. I lean my forehead against the side of her head and speak into her ear. "I'm always going to be here for you, no matter what. In my eyes, you always have been, and you always will be perfect."

I feel her body loosen up as she turns her face toward me. Her eyes are filled with hope and happiness, and for a moment I see the Elsa that I once knew- my big sister, my best buddy. She opens her mouth to speak, but what comes out instead are sobs. Tears start to pour from her eyes as she buries her face in to my chest. She reaches out a hand and tightly grabs onto my bicep, her nails digging into my arm. I sit there silently holding her as her body shakes from the force of her crying. She has kept this bottled up far too long. She needs to let it out.

After several minutes of sitting like this, her sobs start to die down. She releases her grip on my arm and quietly sits with her head resting against my chest. We sit in companionable silence until I look down and notice the stains and rips on her clothing. I hate to move right now, but I need to get her out of these. "Elsa, I'm gonna go to the closet and get you some clothes. Is that okay?" She nods.

I stand up and walk over to my closet. I pull out a t-shirt and some sweatpants. Elsa stands and takes off her shirt, and then her pants. I can see bruises all over her body. Kristoff pops back into my head, and I'm consumed by rage. How could he do that to Elsa? She's so sweet. She would never hurt anyone. _I hate Kristoff. _I hate everything about him. I hate how he made me believe him. I hate his dumb hair, and I hate his stupid stuffed reindeer. I hate that he pretended rocks were his family. I hate that he probably made all of that up and I fell for it. I hate his goofy smile and his big brown eyes. He deserves everything bad coming to him. I hope he gets the maximum sentence for everything.

My rage dies down when I see Elsa shyly wrap an arm around her body. I realize that I'm staring. I clear my throat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." I hand her the t-shirt and sweatpants, before looking away.

She puts on the clothes and then climbs into the bed. I place my phone on the charger and climb in after her. As soon as I get settled she wraps herself around me.

I put my arm around her and pull her in closer. "So tell me about this project. I know it means a lot to you."

She takes in a breath. "I uhm.. I sort of figured out cold fusion."

I nod my head. "I feel like this is a big deal, but I'm not sure what that is."

"It's also known as low-energy nuclear reactions. It's nuclear reactions occurring at room temperature, as opposed to like millions of degrees, like the sun." She pauses. "It's pretty much an unlimited supply of cheap, renewable, green energy."

Her experiment actually is a big deal. Kristoff couldn't put his anger aside to notice how big of an impact Elsa was going to make? I shut Kristoff out of my mind in order to enjoy this moment with my sister. "How'd you do that?"

She shifts her body and begins talking with a new found confidence in her voice. "Two years ago I performed experiments where I inserted electrodes composed of nickel or gold wire into a solution of palladium chloride mixed with deuterium. It's a process called co-deposition. I passed an electric current through the solution, causing a reaction within seconds. I then used CR-39, a special plastic, to capture and track high energy particles that may have been emitted during the reactions…" I have no idea what she is talking about, but it's comforting hearing the sound of her voice. I begin to drift off as I listen to her speak.

* * *

I wake up and Elsa is curled against me. I prop myself up and smile down at her. _She looks so peaceful. _My phone is vibrating and I realize that it's probably what woke me up. I gently reach over and take it off the charger. I don't know the number, so I'm tempted to just go back to sleep. Something inside of me makes me answer it anyway. There is a computerized voice that asks me if I want to accept the call. "Yeah", I grumble into the phone as I try to get fully adjusted to being awake.

There is a pause and then I hear a voice begin to speak. It sounds familiar. "Anna, I need you to listen to me. I didn't kill those people, and I didn't hurt Elsa. Someone is setting me up. I need your help. I feel like you're the only person that will believe me."


	12. Corporate Party

I sit quietly as I listen to the sound of Kristoff's voice. When he stops speaking I immediately hang up. _Did he really think I would fall for that?_ I shake my head as I lie back down next to Elsa.

Elsa starts to stir and she reaches over and rubs my arm. "Who were you talking to?" She stretches and lets out a tiny moan before opening her eyes. Once she sees me she smiles.

I can't help but smile back at her. It's nice seeing her look so happy. "No one. Wrong number."

She brings her hand closer to her face and takes a look at her nails. "I need to take a shower."

I point towards my closet. "I have some clean towels in the closet. To get to the bathroom you make a left when you walk out of the door and it will be down the hall on your right. You go now, and I'll go in a minute. I'm gonna call Hans."

Elsa sits up and rubs some hair off of my forehead. "Alright, maybe we can get some breakfast or lunch later. I'm starving."

She gets out of the bed and grabs a towel and my shower caddy. She heads out of the room and I pick up the phone to call Hans. He answers on the first ring. "Hey Hans, is it possible for me to see you tonight?"

Hans chuckles a little. "Hi, Anna. It's nice to hear your voice. I'm uhh.. I have this thing to go to. It's like a party for my family's corporation."

"I want to go." The words come out before I can even process a thought. _Smooth Anna._

"Why?" I can feel him tensing through the phone.

"I just need to have a little fun." Crap, I wasn't really prepared to answer this question. I thought he would just say okay.

He sighs, and sounds relieved. "Let me take you out to a nice night club tomorrow night. These parties are nothing but a bunch of assholes getting drunk and forgetting they have spouses."

_Isn't that what a club is?_ "I don't really want to go to a club, I want to go to this."

He lets out a breath. "Why, Anna?"

"I want to uhm-" I start to panic. I'm not sure why this is making me so nervous. "I just want to see what your family is like." _Probably shouldn't have said that. Nice going Anna._

He is silent for a moment. "Maybe we should slow down, go on a proper date first."

"Why don't you want me to go to the party?" I'm confused. I let him into every part of my life and he shuts me out over a company party? I don't get it.

"Fine. I'll pick you up at 7:30 outside of your dorm. I have to go. I'll see you tonight." He hangs up the phone.

* * *

I stand outside of the dorm waiting for Hans to show up. Elsa is back in my dorm room trying to get her life in order. Hans pulls up and stops in front of me. I wait a second to see if he is going to get out and open my door. He doesn't. I walk over, open the car door, and get in the car. "Is everything okay Hans."

"Yeah." He stares ahead of him as he pulls away from the dorm. We sit in silence for the entire ride. When we arrive I am more than happy to leave the tense situation boiling inside the car. _At least there will be sound in the party. _When we enter everything seems to be in full swing. Hans takes my hand. "You want something to drink?" I nod and he leads me toward a large table with tons of different foods and drinks. _This is extravagant. _I look to my side and I see three very handsome men heading our way. Hans looks up and his grip on my hand tightens.

The three men approach us and immediately begin smiling. "Well if it isn't our baby brother Hansy!" The one that appears to be the youngest of the three laughs at his comment and drunkenly stumbles a bit. "How goes it little bro? I see you got a little lady with you. That's new. Honestly, I was starting to think you were gay." Hans grits his teeth together.

A man that appears to be slightly older than the first begins to talk. "You never show up to these little parties. What's different about this one?" He pauses. "Oh right, Father is announcing who is set to inherit the family business. Do you actually think you have a chance Hans?" The two men begin laughing as the oldest of the three tries to quiet them. Hans runs a hand through his hair and lets out an angry breath.

The oldest brother turns to me. "I'm sorry for my brothers." He points to the youngest one. "This is John." He points to the slightly older one. "This is Eric." He holds out a hand to me. "And I'm Alexander. You can just call me Alex."

I reach out and shake his hand. "Nice to meet you." He gives me a charming smile.

John begins speaking again. "Is wittle Hansy angwy?" He sticks out his lip in mock pouting.

Hans angrily clenches his fist before lashing out. "Shut up talking to me or-"

"Or you'll do what Hansy?" Eric chimes in. He turns to me. "Hans was such a dork in middle school. He managed to make himself look sort of decent but-" He turns back to Hans. "You'll alway be that chubby little nerd to me Hansy."

John leans closer to me. "So tell me Anna, does he still wet the bed?" He starts laughing as he looks at Hans. "Or have you two not slept together yet? Are you still a virgin Hansy? What's holding you back?" Hans lunges at John but is stopped by Alex.

A large grin spreads across John's face. "Don't be so angry little bro, we're just messing with you."

Alex releases Hans and sticks out a hand in my direction. "Dance with me Anna, I want to know a little more about you." I take his hand and he leads me onto the dance floor. He's a very nice dancer. I briefly look over and see Hans still engaged in a heated conversation with his two brothers.

"So do brothers always poke fun at each other like that?" I look up at Alex.

He laughs. "Yes, Anna. It's all in good fun. It's just what guys do. Hans knows we love him. Sometimes he can be a little sensitive. Personally, I just think Mother babied him a little too much." He gives me a humorous smile.

I begin laughing. "So he doesn't date much?"

"The last girlfriend I remember him having was Freshman year of high school. He managed to pull the hottest girl in the school and we didn't know how. It turned out that she was using Hans to get to John. He's two years older than Hans. We made fun of him a bit for it. I don't think he ever got over that." A slight frown appears on the mans face. "I tried to tell him that there are other women out there. Sometimes you swing and miss- but he never listened to me."

I take in a breath. "That sounds pretty bad. He never said anything to me about that."

He laughs. "Yeah and he probably never will. I'm glad he has you though. He must really like you, to bring you around us. He doesn't exactly think that highly of his brothers." I continue to dance with Alex. As we turn I make eye contact with Hans. He looks pissed. He begins marching in my direction.

When he reaches us he grabs me by the arm and pulls me away. "I need to talk to you."

He takes me out of the main room and into an empty hallway, then releases my arm. He looks at me with fury in his eyes. "That was really funny, wasn't it? Is this what you wanted- meeting my family?"

I shake my head, confused.

He looks at the floor. "I should have left you yesterday when I saw how you looked at Kristoff. I knew you were desperate, but falling for the guy who kidnapped your sister is a new low."

I take a step back. "What?"

He walks toward a wall and slaps it before starting to scream. "Jesus Christ Anna, how dumb are you? Or better yet, how dumb do you think _I_ am?"

"Hans-"

He interrupts me. "I just don't understand. I took you out. I listened to you whine about Elsa. I worked with investigators all day to help find your sister-" He turns to me. "-while you were off trying to get with someone else! I am the reason Elsa was rescued, and you wanted him! You're just like every other girl I've dated. I do everything right and you still just want guys like my brothers. Without me, you and Elsa would be dead. You two owe me everything!" He's full out yelling now, and his face is growing more red by the second. He's shaking with anger.

"I'm sorry Hans, I-"

"Save it." He opens the door and walks back into the other room. I follow him, but he is moving to fast for me to catch. I dejectedly head towards the bar instead.

As I sip on a sprite, a guy walks over and starts speaking to me. "Hey, I noticed you looked a little blue. Thought I'd try to cheer you up." I look up and he smiles before taking the seat next to me. "So what's up? Guy troubles?" I look away. "Well I'm sure it's his loss."

I look back up. "He called me dumb and said I was like every other girl he dated.. just because his brothers said something that upset him."

The man begins to shake his head. "That little boy didn't deserve you anyway. You gotta steer clear of those guys. They're nothing but trouble." He pauses and sips his drink. "You want to hear something cool?" I nod. "I might have discovered a new element. It's pretty exciting."

I smile and let out a small laugh. "That's not as cool as cold fusion."

He raises a brow. "What do you know about cold fusion?"

"More than you, probably."

He sets his drink down. "Well I'm really gonna impress you now. I knew a guy who said he had figured it out. He was gonna sell the whole idea to the company once they were done creating the prototype reactor."

The smile leaves my face. "What?"

He nods. "His name started with an S or something."

"Sebastian?"

He sets his drink down. "Yeah! Whoa, nice guess. He was really cocky. He said some other guy was offering a lot of money for the research, but he was sure he could get a better deal with SIEC. He uploaded a lot of the files into our data base. The project wasn't really complete, but from what he gave us, it seemed promising. Then he died." The man sighs and looks away. "C'est la vie." He laughs a little before standing. "You wanna dance?" I shake my head. "Your loss babe, I'm a real mover." He gives me a wink before walking away from the bar.

I turn and look down at my drink. Sebastian died right after trying to sale the research to SIEC. Someone must have really not wanted that deal to go through. Who would kill four innocent people just to stop SIEC from profiting? I run my fingers through my hair. Maybe Kristoff _was_ setup. _Oh no, Kristoff. _I suddenly feel terrible for hanging up on him this morning. _I hope he calls back._

I take out my phone and call a taxi. Too much has happened tonight, I need to relax and get some rest. I need time to think about things.

* * *

I enter my dorm room and find Hans and Elsa laughing on the bed. Elsa turns to me. "There you are Anna! Hans told me he had to leave early, sadly, but you opted to stay at the party. Good for you. You deserve a little fun. Also, you didn't tell me he was a nuclear physicist like me."

I open my mouth to speak but Elsa continues.

"Since the deaths of my colleagues I've become a little shorthanded with my research. Hans has offered to help me out." She smiles at me.

"Elsa-"

Hans stands from the bed and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Can we talk in the hallway for a minute?"

I turn to Elsa and she gives me a small smile. "Go ahead."

I turn and walk into the hallway with Hans. He grabs my hand. "Anna-"

I pull away. "What do you want Hans?" I really don't want anything to do with him. I don't even know how he got into the dorm.

He lets out a breath and looks into my eyes. "I'm sorry about what I said."

He sounds sincere, but I've recently learned that my judgement in that department isn't that great. "Good to know", I say flatly.

He reaches for me and I back away. He sighs. "Please talk to me."

"About what? How dumb I am?" I feel anger swelling inside of me. Did he actually think he could say all of those things to me and I would just take him back?

He shakes his head. "I didn't mean that."

"What did you mean?" I lift a brow as I clench my jaw.

He runs a hand through his hair before shoving both into his pockets. "I was upset and embarrassed. I don't have the best history with women so I got pretty defensive when my brothers started making fun of my dating life in front of you."

"Sure. Okay." Maybe if I give disinterested responses he'll get the point that I want him out of my life.

He looks at me with pain swelling in his eyes. "Listen to me. What I said was wrong. I really like you and I don't want to mess this up."

_Who does he think he is?_ "It's a little too late for that."

He flings a hand through the air and I flinch. He starts speaking, his voice rising. "I messed up! People do that sometimes. Couples fight. You can't run away after one little fight. Just give me another chance. Please. I've never felt like this about anyone."

I shake my head. "Well that was a really nice way of showing it."

"Please." I can see the hurt in his expression. He looks like he's on the brink of tears. His eyes are searching mine for some sort of validation, and that's when I see it. A single tear falls down his cheek. He quickly wipes it away, but more start to fall. "I'm sorry Anna. My brothers used to always make me feel so inferior. I thought I was losing you and that feeling came back. Those things I said- the anger I was feeling, wasn't directed at you. Please." His voice breaks with the last words and he sniffs loudly. In that moment all of my will to fight him is ripped away. I want to comfort him. He's hurting.

I walk forward and wrap my arms around his torso. "Okay. You get one more chance… just never speak to me that way again- even if you're scared. I don't want to hurt you. You can trust me."


	13. Love Doctor

**A/N: **More tests this week, sorry guys. Please be patient with me, I'm trying(:

* * *

I firmly hold on to the red solo cup in my hand. It's filled with a blue drink that I've only taken one sip of. I'm not quite sure what's in it. My friend walks over and leans her head on my shoulder, her long red hair spilling into my drink. She begins talking, her speech slurred. "Wassamatter Anna? You don't… haven't barely touched your drink babe." She stumbles forward and I reach out for her arm, spilling half of my drink.

I set the cup down on a table and wrap her arm around my shoulders. "I think maybe you've had a little too much tonight. I'm going to walk you home, okay?"

She nods her head and plants a kiss on my cheek. "You're such a good friend Anna." I smile at her before slowly guiding her to the front door. We exit the party and I feel the cool night air on my skin. It feels amazing after being in that stuffy frat house. We make it to the sidewalk and begin our slow journey back to the dorm. "So really, Anna. What's bothering you? You don't... didn't drink tonight."

I take a deep breath. "My friend Kristoff hasn't called me in two weeks. I'm just a little worried about him."

She starts giggling. "What kinda name's Kristoff? Anyway, you sure he's just a friend?" She lifts a brow and a devious smile spreads across her face.

I shake my head. "Nothing is going on between us. It's just… it's complicated."

She leans in close to my ear and attempts to whisper. "Well try not to make it too complicated 'cause Hans is sexy, so don't mess that up." She growls in my ear before turning and letting out a loud wolf howl. She then trips over one of her feet.

I grab her and steady her before we continue walking. "Calm down before you hurt yourself. Nothing is happening between me and Kristoff, we're just friends. I just want to know if he's okay… and I have something to tell him.." I let out a sigh as I trail off.

She rolls her eyes. "Just wanna confess your undying love, huh? I meant what I said 'bout Hans. Guy like that has girls lined up. You mess up and you don't get him back."

I nod my head. "I know… but sometimes he can have a bit of a temper and-"

"Anna, he's a guy. Knowing you, you probably just called him out on something he's insecure about. You gotta feed their egos. They're like little puppies. Don't be so hard on 'em. Let 'em feel like they're in control. Sometimes guys are hot-headed, but it's sorta cute when they're mad." She starts to laugh.

I bite down on my lip before taking in a breath. "I don't see why I have to let him feel like he's in control. Maybe I want to be in control- at least in control of myself. I hate being told what to do."

"Oh Anna…" A crease spreads across her forehead as her mouth twists into a frown. "You have so much to learn… but it's okay I'll teach you."

I feel anger swelling up inside of me. "Ariel you gave up a swimming scholarship to another college to come here and be with a guy."

"What's your point Anna?"

I take her arm from around my neck and I take a step back, putting distance between us. "My point is that he dumped you first week, so maybe it's not a good idea to take advice from you."

A frown spreads across her face. "Well you just go be single forever like your nerd sister." She turns and begins walking- more like stumbling, down the sidewalk. "I'll walk home myself if you're just gonna be rude."

I feel a tinge of guilt start to spread through me and I walk up to her and wrap my arm around her waist, making sure she doesn't fall. "I'm sorry. I just feel so lost in this relationship. There's so much other stuff going on in my life, and I haven't had time to process any of it." I swallow and take a breath. "We had a fight two weeks ago and he apologized. I forgave him because I thought maybe I was just making too big a deal of the situation, but… I still sort of feel crummy about some of the things he said."

She leans her head against mine. "I'm sure you've said stuff in fights that you wish you hadn't. What matters is he apologized. It's your first fight with a boyfriend, those always feel worse than they actually are."

I nod. She's making a lot of sense. I mean, it was a pretty intense situation at the party.. and his brothers were being sort of crappy to him. "Yeah. You're right Ariel."

She smiles. "I know I am, Anna. I'm like an expert on this stuff. Plenty of experience." She winks at me and starts to chuckle. "Speaking of experience-"

"We _weren't_ speaking of experience, and I don't want to talk to you about that." She smiles and pulls me into a hug. She giggles into my hair and I unwrap her arms from around my body. "Come on you goofball, it's starting to feel cold out here."

"What are your talking 'bout, I don't feel a thing." She throws an arm in the air and stumbles, almost bringing me down. I stop us from falling and shake my head.

We finally make it to the dorm and I swipe us in. The woman at the front desk gives us a smile. "You girls be careful."

"We will, I promise." Ariel starts giggling as she gives the woman a wink.

I give the woman an apologetic smile. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get her tucked in." We walk up to Ariel's room and I use her card to swipe us in. I then place her on her bed and get a water out of her fridge. I give it to her to drink. "Drink this and maybe you'll have less of a hangover when you wake up." She takes the bottle and smiles at me. I place my phone on the desk before climbing on the bed and sitting next to her. She takes a small sip of the water before putting the top back on. "C'mon Ariel, you have to drink it all."

She rolls her eyes. "Okay, Mom." She begins to chug the rest and I let out a small laugh. She takes the bottle from her lips and stares at me. "What's so funny?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. It was just nice spending time with you... and getting some advice from the love doctor." I say the last two words in my best attempt at a sultry voice. She nearly spits out her water and we both burst into laughter. I start speaking again once we finally calm down. "Really… I had a nice time tonight. It's been a while since I enjoyed myself."

"You just gotta loosen up a bit Anna." She yawns before lying down on the bed.

My phone rings and I get up to answer it. I don't recognize the number. I pick up and a computerized voice asks me if I want to accept the call. _It's Kristoff._ My hands start to shake. "Yes."

After a slight pause I hear Kristoff's voice. "I didn't want to keep pestering you, but I had to try one more time." There's is hesitation in his voice. He probably thinks I'll hang up on him again.

"Kristoff, I'm so sorry I hung up on you." My heart is pounding.

I hear him sigh and he sounds more relaxed when he begins to speak again. "It's okay. I would have called back sooner but I spent some time in the infirmary. I'm not safe in here Anna. I need to-" My phone is snatched from my ear and I look to my right and see Ariel smiling at me.

She puts the phone to her ear. "Go away Kristoff, she's taken." She pulls it down and I lunge for her but she turns. She presses end on the phone, and then shuts off the screen. "You'll thank me for this one day, Anna."


	14. Partners in Crime

I snatch my phone back from Ariel and she smiles at me before collapsing on the bed. I want to hurt her. _I want to hurt her. _I want to take out every emotion that has been bottled up inside of me on her right now. _She's too drunk to even notice I'm angry. _I walk in circles around the room, counting to ten in my head over and over again. _It's not working. I can't be calm right now. _She starts to snore and I launch my phone at the wall. She doesn't stir. _How could she do this?_ I want to storm out of the room, but I can't. I need to stay here and make sure she's okay.

I keep circling the room for what feels like forever, just trying to clear my head. I look over at her clock and notice that it's only 3am. I become aware of how tired I am. _If I get in the bed I'll have to be close to her and I don't want that. _I bite down hard on my lip, trying to suppress a scream. She rolls toward the edge of the bed and I see an opportunity. I walk over to the bed and climb in, trying to get as close to the wall as possible. It's hard to put space between us in this twin sized bed, but it's worth a shot. I need to get some rest.

As soon as I get settled in she rolls back over and throws an arm around me. She then buries her face in my hair and tangles her leg over mine. I want to push her off of me, but she might fall off the bed. _Good, she deserves it. _I shake the thought away. I don't want to hurt her. She probably doesn't even know what she did was wrong. I lie as still as possible staring up at the ceiling. After a while the sun comes up, and I realize that I've just sat here for hours, not sleeping.

I can feel her breath on the side of my face, making the anger grow inside of me._ I should just wake her up. She doesn't deserve to sleep so peacefully after what she did. _How could she hang up on Kristoff like that? Even if she was drunk, she had to know that she shouldn't have done that.

She stretches out a leg and lets out a little moan as she presses her face into my shirt. She then lifts her head and wipes her eye with her hand. She sleepily opens her eyes, and puts her head down to rest on my shoulder. For a moment I forget about the angry storm that has been raging inside of me all night. Her lips quirk into a small smile. "Did we uhh… do anything last night?" She lifts a brow and winks, obviously enjoying her little joke. The anger inside of me returns.

It takes everything I have for me not to lash out at her in this moment. "No, I was just making sure you didn't die of alcohol poisoning. I should have just left you here alone after what you did." I can't disguise the anger in my voice, or maybe I'm just not trying to.

She props herself up over me and moves some of my hair behind my ear, before looking into my eyes. Her stare is breaking through my anger, _and_ giving it fuel at the same time. She begins speaking with genuine concern in her voice. "What did I do?" Her eyes fill with worry and I try to avoid making eye contact. _Tell her how you feel, Anna. Just do it. She deserves it. _Her eyes begin to follow mine, searching for an answer I'm not giving her. "Please don't tell me I screwed up. You're my best friend. I would never want to jeopardize that." She runs a hand through her hair and the expression on her face almost breaks my heart. She starts to shake her head. "I'm never freaking drinking again, I swear."

My anger is slowly being released from my body. It's impossible for me to be mad at her. She's been my best friend and the small ray of light in my life ever since I came to this school. I take in a breath. "Nothing… You didn't do anything. You're fine."

She relaxes. "Good." She lies back down next to me and wraps my arm around her before snuggling into my side. She begins to speak, her voice a whisper. "I feel like I should have a massive headache, but I don't. It's sort of weird because I can barely remember last night."

I close my eyes. "I made sure you drank lots of water." I need to be mad at something. I need to release these emotions that I have been feeling. I need to do something constructive. I can't sit around like this and do nothing anymore.

She smiles at me and her big blue eyes light up. "You really are the best friend I could ever hope to have."

I pull myself up next to her and I take in a breath. "I was doing a lot of thinking last night, and I need your help with something."

"Yeah. Sure. Anything. What's up?" She gives me a reassuring smile.

I search my head for the right words to explain this situation. I finally just settle on being blunt. "My friend Kristoff is in prison, and I need you to help me figure out how to prove he's not guilty." She opens her mouth to speak, but I continue. "I _would_ ask Hans or Elsa… but I _can't_ ask Hans or Elsa. They would just think I'm crazy. You're all I have left."

She tilts her head. "What's going on Anna?" I tell her everything. I start with finding Elsa's apartment door open and end with her hanging up on Kristoff last night. She sits up and pulls me into a hug. "I'm so sorry I did that Anna… but maybe it's not a good idea for us to get into this."

I sigh. "Listen to me Ariel-"

"I'm listening," she interrupts. "But the things that are coming out of your mouth are utter nonsense. We're not detectives, Anna. If all the signs point to Kristoff, then maybe it's him. Maybe you shouldn't read too much into the Sebastian thing."

I pull out of her hug. "You owe me." She starts to object, but I continue. "Just do one thing with me, and if nothing comes out of it, I'll let it go."

She looks down. I can tell she feels bad about last night, but I don't mind using this to my advantage. She looks back up at me. "Fine. What do we need to do?"

_What do we need to do?_ I run through everything in my mind one more time. There is only one place I can think to go. "We have to go visit this guy. He was sort of Kristoff's friend. His name's Oaken."

She nods. "Okay, but can I shower first? I totally smell like a frat house, and that's not good for anyone." She rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, sure," I say through laughter.

She reaches out and rubs my cheek. "There's that goofy Anna laugh that I love." She crawls out of the bed and grabs some things before heading out the door. I use this time to call Elsa. I walk over to where I threw my phone last night and pick it up. The screen is cracked. _Great this is just what I needed. _I dial Elsa's number.

She picks up and immediately begins speaking. "Hey, Anna. Did you have fun last night with Ariel?"

I try to think of an appropriate response. _I wouldn't say we had fun._ "Yeah, Elsa. It was nice. I'm just calling to check in. We should hang out sometime, when you're not so busy with your research."

"Yeah, I'd really like that. Don't worry, everything is almost done, and then I'm all yours. I promise." She stops speaking and we sit in silence for a moment. She clears her throat. "Well uhm, I need to make a call, so maybe we can talk later, Anna?"

I nod my head before realizing I need to speak. "Yeah. That sounds cool. I love you."

"I love you too."

I hang up the phone and take in a breath. Elsa and I don't really have the relationship I thought we would. I kind of thought that maybe we would just pick up where we left off, but things haven't really been happening that way. She's been spending a lot of time with Hans in the lab. She's doing great work, so I guess I can't complain, but I really just want my sister to myself.

Ariel comes back after fifteen minutes and starts going through her clothes. "Want something to change into?" I nod my head and she throws a pair of black leggings and a blue skirt in my direction. She then throws me a plain black top. "You'll look cute in that." She finds something for her to wear and we both get dressed. She then grabs her phone and throws me her car keys. "Lets go see this Oaken dude."

* * *

We arrive at Oaken's house and Ariel opens her bag to get out her lip gloss. I look down and see a pocket knife and mace inside of it. "Ariel, what is that? What are you doing?"

She looks down into her purse. "You can never be too careful Anna. There are a lot of creeps in this world. You can't go around trusting everyone."

I shake my head. "Whatever happened to you to make you so distrusting?"

She pulls down the mirror and begins to apply her lip gloss. "When I was in high school I was supposed to sing lead in this musical and my backup -Ursula- said she made me some special tea to soothe my vocal chords- I drank it and lost my voice for three days, and she got to sing the lead. That bitch."

I start to laugh. "Haven't trusted anyone sense, huh?"

She smiles at me. "No one except for you, love." She leans over and places a kiss on my cheek before looking back into the mirror. "Perfect." She then opens her door and hops out of the car. "Lets get this over with."

I get out of the car and follow her to the front door. She knocks. A couple of seconds later the door opens and a large man appears. I take a deep breath. "Hi, Oaken. I don't know if you remember me-"

"I know who you are. Why are you on my door step?"

Ariel starts to laugh. "I'm sorry, but I was not expecting that voice."

Oaken glances down at Ariel and his look hardens. "Are you making fun of my voice?"

Ariel opens her mouth to speak, but I jump in instead. "No one is making fun of anything. I'm here because I need your help with something."

He stares silently at me for a moment. "I bet you're here about Kristoff. It seems he has gotten in over his head, or messed with the wrong people. I'm not sure if I want to help him though. I know about that crap he tried to install on my computer. Did he really think I was that gullible?"

I tilt my head. "So you know Kristoff is innocent?"

Oaken clears his throat. "We're not the best of friends, but even I know that he's not capable of this. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."

"Well... my sister is a genius, and she's pretty convinced… so I'm gonna need your help to figure this out." It is silent between the three of us for a couple of seconds. "Please, Oaken. I need this."

He opens the door wider and takes a step back, gesturing for us to enter. We step inside. Ariel looks around before turning to me. "Look at this place," she whispers. "This guy is definitely a creep. I'll keep my hand on the mace. Be ready to run at any moment."

Oaken turns around to us and Ariel smiles at him. "I can hear you Red. I'm not interested in hurting you. Besides, you're not my type."

Ariel lets out a laugh. "I'm everyone's type... and don't call me Red."

Oaken squints at her. "Well don't dye your hair such bold and unnatural colors."

Ariel clenches her jaw and takes a step forward. "This hair is not dyed, this is natural. Also, you're a creep. Everything in this dump is made out of wood. Maybe you should watch a home decorating show, or try not to be such a weirdo."

I roll my eyes. _Are you kidding me right now_? I can't believe these two are arguing after knowing each other for five seconds. "Can we get down to business? Or are you two not finished yet?"

Oaken leads us to the kitchen and he sits down at the table. He looks over to me. "So what can I help you with?"

I try to think of where we should start. There is so much I need to know to even have a chance of figuring this out. "You can start by telling me how the other scientists were killed."

He laughs and taps his fingers on the table. "Now you're just being lazy. You can find that on the internet.

I let out a breath. "Oaken-"

"Single shot to the head. Execution style."

Ariel takes a step back and lifts her hands in the air. "What the hell?" She turns to me. "Anna, we need to drop this before it's too late. I don't want to go near anything where people are being killed execution style."

I ignore her, my eyes fixed on Oaken. "What was your part in all of this?"

He shakes his head. "I can't really say." I clench my jaw and he starts to speak again. "A large amount of money had been transferred into all of the accounts of the scientists, including Elsa. Someone paid me to take it out."

I raise a brow. "A large amount of money?"

He nods. "Yeah. The money was originally all in Sebastian's account, but he made payments to the other three, splitting the money equally. I received names and dates that the accounts had to be cleared. I didn't realize until you and Kristoff came here about Elsa, that I was clearing the account right before the person was murdered."

I go to sit on the opposite side of the table. I look Oaken in the eyes. "Sebastian sold the research to SIEC. Once they had finished the project, SIEC was going to be the one to profit. Someone was paying you to make that money disappear… like there had never been a sale."

Ariel walks over and stands next to me. "It's like they were trying to take away proof of the project having ever existed. So where'd the money go?"

Oaken looks to Ariel. "I transferred it into an anonymous account, and then it was transferred again, but I don't know where."

She nods. "Can you access it?"

He shakes his head. "Probably not."

I run my hand through my hair. _This is already more complicated than I thought it would be. _The only positive thing about this is that I now know that Kristoff is almost certainly innocent. I look up at Oaken. "Why not?"

He looks back to me. "Whoever is doing this is smarter than I am."

Ariel tilts her head, confused. "Why use you in the first place then?"

Oaken lets out a breath. "I'm guessing the less that can be traced back to them, the better."

Ariel walks around the table to an empty chair and takes a seat. She looks at me. "If Kristoff didn't do this, Elsa couldn't have been in his house before he left to pick you up. That means she was placed there some time between you meeting him, and him being arrested… so why didn't Elsa tell you she was moved right before she was found, and who knew that Kristoff was away from his house with you?"

I tap my fingers on the table. _These are good questions. _I'm sort of glad I brought Ariel with me. "Maybe they didn't know he was with me, maybe they just waited for him to leave the house, and then they placed Elsa in there."

"Yeah, but they left a note saying she ran away. They tried to stop it from looking like she was abducted. What was their plan for placing her in Kristoff's house? Just let him find her... and then what?" She looks to me with a confused expression on her face.

I shake my head. "I think they wanted her to be found, but they wanted to make it look like Kristoff didn't want that. If they really wanted to make it look like she ran away, they would have made her write the note herself."

Oaken begins to speak. "The scientists on Elsa's project were murdered and Kristoff assumed it was because of their research-"

Ariel cuts him off. "Elsa had to have assumed the same thing. She said she hadn't realized it was Kristoff, so she had to have thought she was being hunted for her work… so it's a little weird that she started back working on the project right away. Didn't you say she's been working with Hans for the past two weeks?"

"Yeah, so?"

Ariel starts twisting some her hair around her finger. "Well the way you talk about it, it's like she's blowing you off to work on the project. If I had just gotten my sister back in my life, and I was nearly killed, I'd put my work on hold."

I shrug. I don't understand where this is going. "Her work is really important, I guess. What are you trying to say?"

She sighs. "She was back in the lab a little over a week after her colleagues were brutally murdered. You're not even connected to these people and you've been moping around ever since you found out about this. Elsa knows about the bank accounts being cleared. She knows about the sale. Everyone else was killed, and she was abducted. I mean, either Elsa isn't telling you something, or she's involved with setting up Kristoff. Like he said, it doesn't take a genius to figure out Kristoff didn't do it, so why is Elsa going along with the idea that he did? I think she knows who is behind this, or perhaps _she_ is the one behind this." Ariel pauses and clears her throat. "That is of course _if _Kristoff had nothing to do with this."

I shake my head. "No. Elsa couldn't have had anything to do with this."

Ariel looks down at her hands. "Kristoff said Elsa and the other scientists were very secretive about their work, so it also might be a good idea to think about why she was so eager to let Hans help out... and she had only known him a day."

I open my mouth to object, but then I realize something. Back in the grocery store when I told Hans my name, the first thing he did was ask me if I was related to Elsa. It's pretty weird that he would automatically make that connection, unless us meeting wasn't by chance. I put my head down on the table. _I don't know anything anymore._


	15. A Deeper Look into Elsa

"It's okay, Anna. We're going to figure this out. I'm sure there is an explanation for all of this." Ariel rubs her hand through my hair. Her voice is soothing. I lift my head off of the table. I can't break down now. I need to figure this out. I look to Oaken. "I know Elsa works for the government, maybe it's something to do with that."

Oaken leaves the table and shortly returns with a laptop. He sits back down at the table and opens it. "I did some digging into Elsa's past after you and Kristoff left. She doesn't work for the government anymore. She received government payments into her account for almost a year, but then they stopped."

I can't handle anymore surprises. I run a hand through my hair. _Are you freaking kidding me? _I know I don't know anything about my sister, but seriously, what the hell? "What do you mean? Kristoff said she was going to help him get his job back. How could she do that if she didn't even work for the government anymore?" I can't disguise how annoyed I am by all of this.

Oaken types something into his laptop and clicks a few times. "Elsa did work for the government, but she quit about three years ago." I look down at the table. Well if she wasn't working for the government anymore, then.. _She had to be using Kristoff to hide her work from the government._ That's why she needed the best. It all makes sense now, but I don't understand. If she's only doing energy research, why is she so secretive about it? Oaken does some more clicking on his laptop. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure she quit three years ago on or around march 17th."

My eyes shoot up from the table. "March 17th?"

Oaken nods his head and looks up from his laptop. "Yeah, is that significant?"

"It's the day after our parents died," I whisper. Ariel places her hand over mine, and gives me a concerned look. Oaken pauses and for a moment no one speaks.

He then clears his throat and breaks the silence. "Well I did some digging... a lot of digging. Kristoff hid this well, or whoever hid this, hid this well... but Elsa made some important discoveries about low-energy nuclear reactions before she worked for the government."

I close my eyes and let out a defeated sigh. "No, she did that two years ago. You said she quit working for the government three years ago. Something isn't adding up in this timeline."

Oaken turns his laptop towards me and I see a smiling picture of Elsa on the side of an article about LENR. "Well this paper about the experiment was published four years ago," Oaken says softly. "It's the reason the government hired her. She showed extreme potential as an undergrad in college. I guess they didn't want to pass up the next Einstein."

I try to run through all of this in my head, and make sense of everything. Elsa got a great job before she even left undergrad and then she quit a day after our parents died. _Maybe their deaths impacted her more than I thought_. There are other things that don't make sense though. She quit working for the government three years ago, but contacted Kristoff two years ago. By that time she had already had a team assembled, which means she quit working for the government to start working on her project. If she got hired because of her discoveries about LENR- why would she quit to continue working on that topic? I wonder if Kristoff knew she no longer worked for the government, or if he wanted his job back so bad that he hadn't bothered looking into it.

I stand from the table. "I need to go talk to Elsa. Maybe she can make all of this make sense."

Ariel stands from her seat. "Do you need me to go with you to talk to her?"

I shake my head. "No, I need to talk to her alone. I'll drop you back off at the dorm."

* * *

I knock on Elsa's apartment door and I hear shuffling inside. A few seconds later the door opens and I see shock register on Elsa's face. "Oh. Anna, what are you doing here?"

I look around. _Does she not want to talk to me?_ "Were you expecting someone else," I mutter, knowing that Hans is one of the only other people she could be expecting. _Or you know, whoever she's working with to set up Kristoff. _I shut out that thought. Elsa is my sister, and whatever's happening, I know that there is a good explanation.

She shakes her head. "N-no, I was just uhm... a little busy." She clutches the papers in her hands to her chest, almost protectively. I take a deep breath and begin to walk forward. For a moment she doesn't move, but eventually she reluctantly steps aside. "You can come in, but now isn't really a great time, Anna. We can have lunch tomorrow if you're up for that."

I don't get too far into the apartment before I turn around. She's still standing by the open door. She's expecting me to leave. _She really doesn't want to talk to me. _That thought must have shown on my face because she sighs and looks down at the floor. She's still clutching the papers tightly to her chest.

I try to find something to say. I don't want to accuse her of anything, because that might make her shut me out again. I just need to get her to step away from her work. "Take the week off." _Crap I didn't mean to say that out loud. _

She glances up. "Anna I told you that once I finish my work we can spend every moment together. I promise."

I shake my head and take a step forward. "I know that Elsa... but just take this week off. A lot of stuff has happened. You deserve a break."

"I don't need a break." Her voice is firm. She's telling me stop this conversation, but I refuse to take the hint.

"Yeah, but I _need _my sister right now. I have a lot going on, so just take the week off and help me sort through some stuff. We can catch up, and be as close as we used to be." I look her in the eyes, trying to mentally will her to just say yes.

"Anna, I can't do that," she whispers.

"Why not?" My voice is pleading. I don't want to beg her, but I will if I have to.

"I just can't," she snaps. I recoil at her sudden outburst. She takes a step forward. "Anna, just drop this."

I don't know what to say to her. I don't understand why she's being this way. I wish she would just talk to me. I thought we were going to start over. I thought she was going to let me in. "I can't talk to you when you're like this," I say louder than I intended to.

"Then leave." The words hit me like a bullet in the heart. She's just standing there watching me with her icy blue stare, still clutching those damn papers to her chest.

"What's on those papers, Elsa?"

She shakes her head. "It's just my work, Anna. You need to leave. Now."

I walk over to her and grab on to the papers. "What did I ever do to you Elsa? What did I do to deserve this treatment from you?" I'm yelling now. Her neighbors can probably hear me but I don't care.

I try to take the papers from her but she holds firmly on to them. "Anna stop this. Let go now!" I can see fear in her eyes. What does she have to be afraid of? Why won't she let the papers go? I pull as hard as I can, and the papers rip in half. Her eyes widen and the fear in them is almost palpable. "Anna, no. Give those back," she cries out.

I feel anger rising inside of me. _What's so important about these papers? Why is she willing to shut me out for these? _I look down at the ripped papers in my hands and the anger I'm feeling subsides. It gets replaced by a new feeling. Shock. Terror. I don't know what's going on. I can't stop staring at the words across the top of the page. _What does this mean? _I keep reading it over and over.

**Nuclear Weapon Concept H45-15**

I drop the papers to the floor and I step away from Elsa. A tear falls from her eye. "Anna, no. I can explain." I shake my head. I can't be here right now. I can't. I can't trust anyone anymore. My legs start moving without me realizing it. I run from Elsa's apartment. I run down the stairs and out the front door. I open the car door and I get inside. I look over and I see Elsa running out of the apartment building. I start the car and drive away.


	16. The Intruder

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews, they sort of make my day haha! Hopefully things will start to make sense soon, maybe. I don't know. Just enjoy(:

* * *

I knock on the door but there is no answer. I try to yell, but I have nothing left inside to let out. I'm all out of energy, and I'm all out of tears. I start to bang on the door as hard as I can. _I know he's in there_. After a few seconds he opens it, the lights are off. "What the hell, Anna? It's like 3am. I have work tom-" Hans stops mid sentence and pulls me into a hug. "What happened? You look like you've been crying." He takes me into the house and shuts the door. I can't see anything in the darkness. I just feel his bare chest against my face.

_"_Can I trust you?" My voice comes out as a hoarse whisper. Probably because I've been screaming so much. _I'm not sure why I've even involved myself in this_. I should be worrying about passing biology, not about why my sister is making nuclear weapons. I shouldn't be here at 3am trying to figure out if I can trust my boyfriend.

Hans lets go of the hug and walks over to a lamp to turn it on. He then turns and walks back to me. I look down at the floor. He cups my chin with his hand. "What are you talking about," he whispers.

"Can I trust you," I repeat. I lift my gaze from the floor to look Hans in the eyes. "I don't have anyone left that I can trust. I mean.. it's not like I really had anyone in the beginning but... I just need to know."

"You know you can trust me, Anna."

"Hans, don't tell me what I know. Just answer my question. Please. I know you're a self-absorbed asshole, but can I trust you?" I never wanted to be a part of anything like this. I wanted my sister back. I wanted to fall in love. I just didn't want to be alone anymore. _I'm so lost._

_"_You can trust me, Anna." He pulls me in to his chest once more and I take in his scent. He smells like soap. For some reason it makes me feel safe, or maybe I just like having his arms wrapped around me. _Maybe I just like being hugged._

Whatever it is, for a moment I pretend that my life is normal again, and everyone I know isn't lying to me or being a terrorist. _Terrorist. _The word bounces around in my head. Is that what Elsa is? Is Elsa doing this for the government? If she's not, should I tell them? Should I call the cops? If something happens, am I an accomplice? I look up at Hans. "Would you ever hurt me or my sister?"

He clears his throat and looks down at me before releasing the hug. "No… Anna-" He lifts me and walks over to the living area, where he places me on his all white couch. He takes a seat next to me. "I'm sorry I yelled at you at the SIEC party. I know this is what this is about. I didn't want that to affect you like this. Sometimes I have these outbursts, but I'm working on it. I'm in therapy." He pauses and looks away. "I also understand if you want to take a break. Maybe we just moved too fast."

I shake my head. "I'm not sure what I want anymore… but taking a break is probably a good idea." _It's probably the best idea I've had in the past month. _I need to take some time to myself to sort through my thoughts. I need to be away from Hans and Elsa and this complicated life. I need a break from this entire Kristoff thing. Ariel was right, we're not detectives. I can't figure this out, and I don't want to. I love my sister, but she's doing things that even I don't want to get involved with.

A silence hangs between Hans and me for a while, before he decides to speak. "Okay, if that's what you want. I want you to know that, break or not, I'm always just a phone call away."

I nod as I stand from the couch. "Thank you for being understanding." _I mean those words. _I don't think I could have handled an argument with him right now. He stands and gives me a hug before walking me to the door. We exchange silent glances before I exit the house and head towards my car. This has been a long day, I need to get some sleep.

* * *

I swipe my card and enter my dorm room. It's dark, but I don't bother to turn on the light. I take off my jacket and throw it on the floor. _Five steps to the desk. _I feel around for my phone charger. When I finally manage to grab it, I plug my phone in and turn towards the bed. My eyes aren't yet adjusted to the darkness, so maybe that's why the outline of a man lying on my bed isn't scaring me. I get closer and stick out my hand, trying to make sure he is real. I reach out toward the facial area, and my hand rests on warm, unshaved skin. He opens his eyes. _No denying those._ His mouth twists into a big toothy grin. "How are you, Anna?" His voice is low and raspy. The kind of voice that lurks around in nightmares.

I don't have enough energy to react. I remove my hand and walk over to my desk. I pull out the chair and I take a seat. "So what happens now?" My voice is calm and resigned. I barely even recognize it as my own, but then again I don't really feel like myself anymore. He remains silent. I guess he's a strong believer in actions speaking louder than words. _Wonder what kind of actions he has in mind. _I open my mouth to speak again but he lets out a low throaty laugh. It stops abruptly and he takes in a sharp breath.

He gets off the bed and strides over toward the light switch. I listen to the swish of the soft leather of his coat as I take in his smell of cologne and tobacco. He turns on the light and I finally get a good look at him. I see his big shoes, his messy brown hair, and his almond eyes. He looks about 6'5 and maybe 180 pounds. This is the kind of information a cop would want to know, as he stood in my dorm room taking notes with his clipboard and his pistol… but my intruder is not trying to hide his face. He doesn't care if I know who he is. _I'm not making it out of this room._

He looks down at me and grins again. "Don't look so afraid baby girl." He tilts his head and his voice takes on a more serious tone. "Elsa sent me. She got tangled in some pretty bad stuff, and she doesn't want you to get hurt because of her. She wants me to get you away from here, make sure you're safe."

_Great, another person who wants me to trust them. _I let out a breath. "Well you know my name.. what's yours?"

He walks over and sits on the edge of the bed. "My friends like to call me Marshmallow," he says with a wink.


	17. Secrets Revealed

"Marshmallow? Really?" I don't disguise the disbelief in my voice. I roll my eyes. _I can't believe this guy expects me to trust him._ I may not have the best track record with trusting the right people, but even I'm not that gullible.

Marshmallow chuckles and licks his lips. "I don't expect you to trust or believe me, Anna. Frankly, I don't give a damn about any of that. Way I see it, Elsa paid me to get you away from this, so that's what I'm going to do. I can take you willingly or not- the choice is yours. I was just hoping this would be a mutual understanding."

For some reason I believe him more, now that money is involved. If he had come here any other day I would have fought and found every reason for him to just leave me alone, but right now I can't seem to find the strength to care anymore. I just want to rest. I want to sit down and not have to think about any of this, but it keeps getting shoved in my face. "Well suppose I do decide to leave with you- where are we supposed to go?"

He gets off the bed and begins walking around the room. His movement makes me nervous. When he looks away I surreptitiously stick my hand toward the drawer on my desk, hoping I can I place my hands on some scissors or any suitable weapon. He picks up a book off my shelf and starts to flip through it. "I just need to get you to a safe location until this is all over. It shouldn't be too long from now. Elsa is working as fast as she can."

I snatch my hand away from the desk and I angrily grip my knees. "Making her weapons of mass destruction?" He pauses from flipping through the book and looks up at me. I continue. "Yeah I know about that, and I'm assuming you do as well. I know you said she sent you here to protect me, but I think I'll take my chances. Neither side of this seems safe in my eyes."

Marshmallow shuts the book and lets it drop to the floor. _Jesus Christ, he's rude. _"Anna, you think you know things when you don't. What Elsa is doing-"

"Is making nuclear weapons," I snap.

He lunges for me with his hand held out. "Try to keep it down little lady, lets not turn this into an argument. Yes, she is making nuclear weapons, but she has no choice."

I let out a laugh. "Yeah because there really is no alternative to the terrorist life, ya know?"

He takes in a breath and grits his teeth together. "She didn't tell me you'd be this annoying."

"Oh well get used to it, because she didn't tell me anything for thirteen years and now she's off being a terrorist… and she had the nerve to act like I was doing something wrong… like I wasn't good enough to-" I stop abruptly. I want to keep going but I know that if I keep talking I won't be able to hold back my tears. I don't want to appear weak in front of this man.

For the first time since I have been able to see his face, Marshmallow's features soften. He walks toward the door and leans his back against it. "Look, Anna. Technically I'm supposed to keep my mouth shut, but I can't stand by while you turn yourself against your sister. She doesn't have a secret terrorist agenda- the people making her do this however.." He trails off and tilts his head in my direction. "I think you get the picture."

There is a knock at the door and Marshmallow snatches a gun out of his pocket. He turns and looks through the peephole before looking to me. He then lowers his gun and puts it behind his back as he opens the door. Marshmallow steps aside and I see Dave from down the hall. He looks to Marshmallow with wide eyes, then back to me. He manages to stammer out, "M-may I b-borrow your calculus t-textbook?" He looks like he's going to wet his pants. Marshmallow turns to me and gives me a smile right as something smacks him in the chest.

I hear the sound of a taser as his gun drops from his hand and his eyes go wide. He lets out a roar as he clenches his fists into tight balls. A very large man with snow white hair steps around Dave and punches Marshmallow so hard that I think his eyes are going to pop out of his head.

Marshmallow falls to the ground and Dave actually wets his pants. The large man pats Dave on the back. "Good job, son." The large man has something tied around his shoulder and it's covered in blood. _What happened to him?_ He steps into the room and shuts the door behind him. His body barely fits through the door frame, he's so large. He kicks Marshmallow's unconscious body before walking toward me. My heart starts pounding. _What just happened? What's going on? _He stops two feet away from me and starts to speak. His voice is very deep. "Sorry about that. He's one of Weselton's henchmen. He thought he took me out, but I don't go down that easily. I'm Marshmallow. Elsa sent me to get you." There is another knock at the door and I freeze. _Please don't tell me that scene is about to play out again. _Marshmallow -well the new Marshmallow- slaps his palm against his forehead. "I forgot."

He walks back to the door and opens it. A small man with very large eyes comes bouncing in with a smile. "Thanks Marshmallow!" He turns to me and puts his hands on his cheeks as he inhales excitedly. "You must be Anna. I'm Olaf." Olaf looks down at the body on the floor and it doesn't seem to phase him. He picks up the gun laying next to the man and turns to Marshmallow. "Same type of gun that was used to kill the scientists." He turns back to me. "He was probably trying to lure you out of the dorm so he could kill you somewhere where there were less witnesses or people around."

Marshmallow takes the gun from Olaf and looks to me apologetically. "Sorry, he has bad people skills."

I shake my head. "Hold on, what's going on? Who's Weselton?"

"Duke Weselton. He's the man who's been making Elsa design weapons," Olaf says clinically. "He has these two highly skilled guards that pretty much do whatever he says. He's planning a sort of domestic terrorist attack and he got Elsa to help him by threatening to take out her family members. She sent Marshmallow for the two of us, which tells me that she's probably not planning on helping him."

I take in a deep breath. "Okay, Olaf. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, since Kristoff trusted you." I look at Marshmallow. "You keep your distance." I pick up my phone and I take a picture of the man-on-the-floor's face and I send it to Hans. I need to figure out everyone's part in this. I get a call thirty seconds later. I put it on speaker. "Hey, Anna. Is everything okay?"

"Not really," I say dryly. "This man just tried to kill me, so I need to know everything that you know right now- otherwise a very large, very angry man will be coming after you." I look up at Marshmallow 2.0 and he grunts. "So start talking, now."

Hans is silent for a moment, but he finally acquiesces. "I've known I was the heir to SIEC for a while now. My brothers had no clue. My Father secretly gave me a small amount of control over the company." He pauses and clears his throat. "A man came to us talking about LENR-based energy so I offered him a large amount of money for it. I was going to create a secret sector within the company to release the findings at the right time- stay ahead of the competition. I figured that would be enough to get my father to fully hand over the company to me."

My mouth goes dry. "What happened?"

Hans sighs. "The guy I talked to- Sebastian- he turned up dead, and so did two of the other scientists. The picture you sent to me- that's the man who came to kill me, but I made a deal instead. It was my idea to kidnap Elsa and setup Kristoff. Elsa probably knew Kristoff didn't do it, but she wasn't actually sure what was happening. I told Weselton- the guy over this- that I could get close to Elsa and get those plans to him. That caught his attention because he thought all hope was lost for getting the plans. He's been planning this for three years, he didn't want that time to go to waste." He pauses. "I'm so sorry, Anna."

"Why are you sorry?"

Hans sounds afraid when he starts to speak again. "Weselton was holding Olaf's life over Elsa, because he thought he was who was most important to her. He knew her parents were dead, but he thought she was an only child. She never talked about a sister. I was the one that told him you existed, and that I could give him details about your life."

I start shaking my head. I could dwell on this later- right now I need to focus on the task at hand. "Hans, please don't tell me you gave him those plans."

When Hans starts to speak his voice is different.. It sounds like he's crying. "I was just worried about saving my own ass, I didn't realize that he was planning on using that weapon to take out innocent American citizens. If he is able to make that bomb- Elsa is the only person in the world who would know how to disarm it."

I hang up the phone and drop it on the floor. It doesn't matter if Elsa refuses to help. Weselton already has what he wants. That's why he sent his guard after me- he was just cleaning up. He no longer _needs_ Elsa- in fact she is now the only one able to stand in his way. I look up to Marshmallow. "We need to get to Elsa now. We should probably get the authorities involved, but I don't know if we have enough time to do that. Weselton is probably looking to kill Elsa right now."

Olaf starts to shake his head. "If you used someone for three years to help you with your plan, and then they refused to give you the final product... You wouldn't just kill them in any old way. You would do it symbolically. Weselton has the plans for the weapon, so he's going to wait until he makes it to most likely take out Elsa in the blast- killed by her own design. Chances are he already has Elsa and he's gonna go off the grid to make the bomb." Olaf looks up at me and runs a hand through his hair. "I was just trying to say she's probably safe... for now."

* * *

**A/N: **Putting this note at the end of the chapter because after I posted the last chapter I was afraid everyone was going to realize that the description I gave for Marshmallow actually sort of describes how the Duke's guards look in the movie. Glad it seemed to work out though.

Anyway, sorry for the late update. I have excuses, but I'll just leave it at sorry.


	18. Elsa's in Love

"Tell us where they took Elsa." There is a strength to my voice that I've never had before. _Not everything that has come out of this has been bad. _Weselton's henchman blinks a few times as he takes in his surroundings. We had moved to an old warehouse that Marshmallow owned because he thought it'd be a bit safer. He helped me get the creep tied to a chair so I could take a crack at interrogating him.

"Do you really think… I'm going to answer that?" The brown-haired man smiles as he runs his tongue over his swollen lip. I cringe as he gives me a wink before standing from my seat. I start to circle the chair he's tied to, hoping he gets a little intimidated. _Works in the movies._

"Okay. That's a fair point." _Just pretend you're reasoning with him Anna. Act like you understand him. _I fold my hands behind my back to try to appear confident. "What can I call you, since we both know your name isn't Marshmallow?"

"Call me John."

"How generic." I let out a breath. "Anyway, _John_, lets be real here. You're going to go to jail, and we're going to find Elsa."

He starts to laugh. "Yeah. Good luck with that little lady."

_Stay calm Anna. You got this. _"It's true. We're going to find her. I know you're doing this 'for the cause' or you just want to protect your boss, but in the end -if this doesn't work out- where is that going to leave you?"

He licks his swollen lip again. "_If _this doesn't work out. Also, I'm confident you will find Elsa. I'm not so confident that she'll be in one piece."

_Shit. Okay, Anna- what do they say about bombers on Criminal Minds? _I walk back to my seat and firmly plant myself in it. _They don't all have the same motivation and… they all just want to hurt as many people as possible. _I swallow hard. _I'm not going to persuade this man. _He gives me a smile. That last thought must have shown on my face. "Okay," I say softly. "You're not going to tell me where she is. I get that… but we will find her- in one piece."

"In the realm of possibilities, I guess anything is possible… but the three of you aren't nearly smart enough to find out where he's keeping Elsa." He sounds so smug. I want to lash out at him, but he's right. I want to lash out at him _because_ he's right. We will need help if we're going to figure out where Elsa is.

"Okay, John. I know you can't tell us where, but could you at least tell us why?"

He laughs. "Why Elsa? No reason. She just happened to get caught up in this and then she angered Weselton. Now he's going to make an example out of her. After he does this he's gonna set out on his real cause."

"What's that?"

"You'll find out soon enough," he says as his eyes darken.

I look away from him. I can't keep staring him in the eyes. _This is what pure evil looks like. _"Did you have anything to do with my parents dying?" I ask the question before I have time to think. I didn't know it had been sitting on the edge of my mind.

He shakes his head and this time his expression is serious- no hint of a smile on his lips. "No. That was actually a tragedy. Honestly, I didn't plan on killing you or your sister. That's why I made the deal with Hans. Something about killing innocent people- it just doesn't sit right with me. Wesleton was angry about that, most likely why he threw me away on this suicide mission. I couldn't tell you where Elsa was even if I wanted to. I don't know."

"Those scientists weren't innocent?"

"No," he says matter-of-factly. "Not like you and Elsa."

I drag my hand through my hair as I take in a breath. "Am I evil if I don't care about the bomb or people dying? Am I evil if I just want my sister back?"

"No. I'd just say you were human. When we find ourselves in tough situations, naturally we start to bargain. In your eyes, your sisters life is above thousands -millions even- of others." He tilts his head. "How you feel about that is up to you. It's not for me to judge."

"Do you want to watch the world burn?" He looks at me and shakes his head. "You can helps us."

"How's that?"

I stand from my chair. "You can admit what you did and help us get Kristoff out of prison. If we all work together, I'm positive we can stop this. Do you really think your life is more important than thousands -millions even- of other people?"

He lets out a chuckle. "Touche.. but I'm still not convinced I should help."

"You killed people because 'they weren't good people' and I'm proposing you go to jail, but you think that's not fair?" I shake my head. "You need to reevaluate your outlook on life."

"Elsa is in love with Kristoff."

I can feel my eyes widening and I have to check my jaw to make sure it doesn't slam against the floor. "Wh-what," I manage to stutter out.

"He's amazed by her work. He finds it beautiful. She likes the attention. I'm not sure if he feels the same way about her but-" He pauses. "You learn a lot about people when you have their life in your hands. Elsa opened up like a book. Does that change anything?"

I close my mouth and shake my head. "Why would that change anything?"

"Because you love Kristoff, or you sure went through a hell of a lot of trouble for him. With Elsa out of the way you can be together." He takes in a breath as if he has just made a valid point.

I hold out my hand. "If you're suggesting I'd ever pick any guy over my sister, then you're freaking delusional."

He lets out another laugh. "Okay. I was just making sure. I'll help you out."


End file.
